Callinan A Standout At Massachusetts Maritime

October 22, 2013

By Dan Crowley, Falmouth Enterprise

She has played soccer for most of her life. Massachusetts Maritime Academy freshman Aoife Callinan grew up in neighboring Falmouth, where she played youth soccer, Mass Premier Soccer and for four seasons was a member of the Falmouth High School team. In her senior season she was a team captain and an Atlantic Coast League All-Star. She has also played in the Cape Cod Women’s Soccer League.

With a lifetime of experience behind her, she stepped into her center midfielder’s role for the Buccaneers and continued to do what she has always done—score goals. On October 9, Callinan scored twice in Massachusetts Maritime’s 7-0 victory over Pine Manor College. But what made those two goals special was the fact that in scoring them she helped the Buccaneers set a school record for most wins in a season, notched the 100th collegiate career win for head coach Ray Cabral, and earned herself Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week honors.

Callinan is the third member of her family to attend Massachusetts Maritime Academy. Her sister Shauna graduated from the academy in 2012 with a degree in international maritime business and has recently returned from China. Shauna, a 2007 graduate of Falmouth High School and a member of the Clipper lacrosse team, played on the inaugural MMA women’s lacrosse team as a senior at the academy. Finton Callinan, a 2008 graduate of Falmouth High and currently a senior on the Buzzards Bay campus and a marine transportation major, played soccer at FHS for four seasons, but due to knee problems wasn’t able to join the Buccaneer team.

While at Falmouth High, Aoife was also a captain of the girls’ golf team and sailed for the Clippers as a freshman. For the last six years she has taken part in the Falmouth Road Race, raising money for the Cape Cod Center for Women. Last year she raised more than $5,000.

Several factors weighed into her decision to attend Massachusetts Maritime; location, affordability and the fact that the academy offered her the type of career that she was looking for.

“It just made sense for all of us to go to school here,” she said of MMA. “You can get a job if you go to school here, and I wanted to work in the field of environmental engineering and they offer that major here. I considered Wentworth Institute of Technology and would have had a spot on the soccer team if I had gone there.”

Callinan is planning to major in energy systems engineering at Massachusetts Maritime and will continue to play soccer. Coach Cabral recently moved her from center midfield to forward and the move paid off.