Eastern’s Stella Kahn Looking Forward to Playing at LaSalle
Eastern senior soccer standout Stella Kahn was able to get a college visit in just before COVID shut down almost everything for a while.
It was last March when she made a visit to La Salle University.
“I was lucky, I toured the campus a week before it shut down,” she said.
Kahn had such a favorable visit that she soon committed to attend La Salle.
“I was so relieved when I made the decision,” she said. “I fell in love with La Salle my first visit.”
Kahn was among the top defenders in South Jersey. She was a three-year varsity player and two-year starter for one of the state’s top programs. As a junior she was a holding midfielder, and as a senior moved to center back.
Kahn anchored a defense that recorded eight shutouts. Eastern went 15-0, was clearly the top team in South Jersey and also earned NJ.com’s Team of the Year distinction. The NJSIAA didn’t hold state championships, but Eastern scored a 3-0 win over Washington Township in the South Jersey Group 4 final.
The Vikings finished No. 6 in the final United Soccer Coaches national rankings.
“It was a great experience,” she said about her senior season. “We all wished we had a normal senior season with a full 28 games and a chance to go to the states, but once we knew that wasn’t possible, we put everything into winning every game. The South Jersey Group 4 final became like our state final and we knew we had to win it.”
At La Salle, she will be reuniting with her former Eastern teammate Kelly McGroarty, the daughter of Eastern coach Jamie McGroarty. A freshman at La Salle, McGroarty began her college career with two goals in last week’s opening 4-0 victory over Villanova. (Due to COVID, La Salle is playing women’s soccer this spring after the Atlantic-10 postponed the fall season).
“Kelli and I are good friends and it definitely helped having somebody there, asking questions about the school,” Kahn said.
La Salle is coached by Paul Royal, who has guided the Explorers to the NCAA tournament in five of the previous eight seasons. Royal has always recruited South Jersey well. This year’s roster has eight players from the seven-county South Jersey area.
In addition to playing for Eastern, Kahn is a member of one of the top club programs in the state, PDA.
Between now and August she will continue to refine her game in preparation for her first college season. In addition, she is looking to major in bio-chemistry.
La Salle offers Kahn the best of both worlds, a quality soccer program and academic institution.
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“La Salle has felt like home,” she said. “It was such a great feeling when I knew I was attending there, and I really feel fortunate.”
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“La Salle has felt like home,” she said. “It was such a great feeling when I knew I was attending there, and I really feel fortunate.”
© SouthJersey.com 2021. All rights reserved. This article or parts thereof may not be reprinted or reproduced by any other party without the express written consent of SouthJersey.com. For more information, please call 856-797-9910.
To receive special deals directly from SouthJersey.com, subscribe here.
For more Local Sports features, visit our South Jersey Sports page.
Author: Marc Narducci
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