Women’s soccer goalie Meghan Maiwald has made all conference teams, been ranked California’s second best goalie, played with the national deaf team and has won City College’s female athlete of the year.

The star goalie wraps up her two seasons at City College and will now be on her way to San Jose State to continue her soccer career.

The sophomore is leaving with the school’s record for career shutouts, 24, and record for shutouts in a season, 13, as a freshman.

“The two years here have been phenomenal, and I will cherish the memories for the rest of my life,” said Maiwald. “I’ve grown so much as a person coming to SBCC.”

Maiwald said she was shocked and humbled to win student athlete of the year.

“I am very lucky that everything has fallen into place and all of the hard work on and off the field is paying off,” said Maiwald. “The team deserves the award too, because they worked just as hard to keep the ball out of the goal and win games.”

Maiwald posted a miniscule .35 goals against average per game this season. But it was good enough to rank second in the state among community colleges and got Division 1 scouts interested.

The transfer to San Jose State is a bit of a homecoming for Maiwald, who graduated in 2008 from Leigh High School in San Jose.

“San Jose State really put in the effort,” said Maiwald. “The coach and team have welcomed me with open arms and it will be a familiar environment because it is my back yard.”

The 20-year-old will be joining a soccer program on the rise. The Spartans won the Western Athletic Conference regular season championship last season.

“The goal keeper starting position is open for grabs,” said Maiwald. “They have high expectations for me and I look forward to being successful on and off the field.”

Maiwald said another benefit of moving back to San Jose is her family will have the chance to see all of her home games compared to just a few per season. She also rejoins six teammates from her high school and past club teams.

If her college career was not impressive enough, Maiwald’s experience on the national level as a member of the United States National Deaf Team from 2005 until 2009 boosts her resume even more.

“For the 2009 Deaf Olympics in Taipei, I had to make the difficult choice of not going because I needed to focus on SBCC,” said Maiwald. “The difficult choice paid off when I signed the scholarship.”

Maiwald said the time on the national team will help her have an idea of the faster pace and speed of Division 1 soccer.

“Quite a few of the girls play and played Division 1,” said Maiwald. “These girls are very competitive and play hard, and that will help me.”

While playing Division 1 soccer is a dream come true for Maiwald, who has played soccer since five, leaving City College and the Santa Barbara are is bittersweet.

“It is just starting to hit me that I am graduating and will move away shortly after that,” said Maiwald. “It truly felt like home here and I never once felt homesick.”

Maiwald’s hopes her success, despite being hearing impaired, will inspire others with disabilities to follow their dreams.

“I am proud to represent the deaf community and it doesn’t matter if you are disabled or not, you can be successful in whatever you do if you put your heart into it.”