Isabella Serano had a really tough time deciding which sport she wanted to pursue at the next level. A really tough time.
The Bishop Eustace Preparatory School senior has been the brick wall goalkeeper behind the Crusaders’ soccer team the last three seasons, and she’s been a consistently-scoring power forward on the hardwood since her freshman year.
“Whatever sport I’m playing in the moment is the one I love,” Serano said. “But as soon as I step off the field or court, I still love them both the same.”
It became an almost delightful dilemma for Serano, who decided to just double down on her passion for the two sports.
“I’ve loved both sports since I was younger,” she said with a smile. “My parents would ask me every week which one I wanted to pick, and I could never pick. I went to Stevenson [University], and they said they’d love to have me for both. So that made it easy. I can’t wait to play.”
Serano credits the idea to her friend Lauren Caulden, who is a senior at Lenape High School and committed to Stevenson for both basketball and lacrosse. Stevenson is located in Owings Mill, Md., and things worked out perfectly when Serano was in the area for a club soccer tournament.
“I went down to Maryland for soccer, and I emailed them my schedule and asked them to come see me play,” Serano said. The rest is history.
Serano plans to study either exercise science or education at Stevenson while playing both soccer and basketball. She says she’s used to the heavy workload playing both sports at Eustace.
“It’s kind of hard, but everyone around me helps me so much,” Serano said. “So I think I’ll be OK in college.”
She’ll certainly feel at home playing against older athletes on the soccer field. Serano’s brother Arturo is six years older and played soccer at Wilmington University. He prepared his sister for sports at an early age – using his sister goalie for target practice.
“He would blast shots right at my face. He didn’t take it easy on me at all,” she said with a laugh. “It was great. It made me ready for all game-like situations, whether it was a D1 star, D3 or someone playing for fun; I’m always ready for the competition that comes to me.”
On the soccer field, Serano made more than 400 saves in her three years as the varsity goalkeeper and recorded 22 shutouts. In basketball, she has scored more than 750 points during her career and pulled down nearly 300 rebounds. This season, she has averaged 7.5 points per game on a very good Crusaders squad that had an 18-5 record through Feb. 8. Eustace had won a season-best seven in a row at that point.
The schedule is winding down and soon Serano will no longer be a two-sport high school athlete. She’ll be a two-sport college athlete.
“I’m enjoying every moment, every game and every practice,” Serano said. “I know it’s going to end quickly, and I’m going to miss it. But playing with my teammates and Coach Sal [Racobaldo] is what I’m going to miss the most.”
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