Lina Staropoli

Classroom

Lina Staropoli is an outstanding student at Loyola, entering her senior year with a 3.81 grade point average on a 4.0 scale. She has received several academic honors, including twice being named to the MAAC All-Academic Team. Staropoli has been a member of the Loyola Dean’s List all six semesters she has been at the school, and she is a member of Kappa Delta Pi, an International Honor Society in Education. She also was named to the NSCAA Academic Regional All-America Team and the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District II Team in 2009.

Character

Staropoli’s coach at Loyola says: “One thing that stands out about Lina is her constant commitment to the Loyola women’s soccer team’s core values of excellence, balance, trust, respect, responsibility and accountability.  Lina puts her personal best into every part of practice and strives to be excellent in both soccer and academics, as well as in every other facet of her life.  She does a fantastic job balancing faith, family, academics, friendships and soccer.  She is a born leader who has an extremely strong voice that has earned the respect of her peers as well as the coaching staff.  Lina has high expectations for herself as well as her teammates.  She is a responsible leader and person and demands the best of everyone who she interacts with .  She believes in holding herself accountable, and an accountable leader is very rare.  Lina has a strong sense of her moral compass and to put it simply, she is a wonderful human being.  Lina is a captain of our team—a unanimous choice amongst her teammates.  Her work rate and competitive nature are inspiring to her teammates.  Lina has made a great impact on this Program both on and off of the field.”

Community

Staropoli has been a very active member of the Loyola community and has participated in several service roles, both at home in New Jersey and in the Baltimore area. She is a three-year participant in Relay for Life and was a team captain in 2010, and she also captained a team in the 2010 Polar Bear Plunge, an event to raise money for Special Olympics Maryland. Staropoli is the President of Loyola’s SCEC (Student Council for Exceptional Children), an organization that raises money for students with special needs. She continues her work with disadvantaged children as a four-year member of the Loyola society that raises money for schools in need. She was a homework tutor for Mother Seton Academy in 2010 and participated in a Walk in Central Park for Kidney Transplant Research.

Competition

Staropoli earned All-MAAC First Team honors as a junior in 2009, helping Loyola go 9-0-0 in the conference during regular-season play and win the conference title to advance to the NCAA College Cup. She is tied for sixth all-time at Loyola with 15 assists during her career. Staropoli has started 63 of 64 games during her three years at Loyola (not starting on Senior Day in 2009 to allow for a teammate to be in the Opening 11). From her position in the defensive midfield, Staropoli has scored six goals in addition to her 15 assists. She was a MAAC All-Rookie Team honoree in 2008 when she tied the school record for assists in a season with eight.