Syracuse women’s soccer player Alina Miagkova shoots for pros
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (BVM) — Alina Miagkova is not your typical college soccer player. From Lipetsk, Russia, Miagkova touched her first soccer ball at the age of 10. After she began practicing, she knew this was her passion and her parents, Elena and Sergey, encouraged her every step of the way.
“My parents impacted me a lot because they supported me all the time, since my first practice,” Maigkova said.
Maigkova began playing with a men’s academy in Lipetsk, Russia called Metalurg. There weren’t any girls teams at the time for her to play on, so she was placed with the boys. After Maigkova spent some time developing her skills there, she tried out for the U19 Moscow Team. The team enjoyed a strong season, winning the Championship of Russia.
Following a successful season for the Moscow team, Miagkova looked for a more competitive environment. She made the decision to come to America to challenge herself academically and with sport performance. In 2020, she joined the Orange after transferring from Central Michigan. Miagokva was a key player for Central Michigan, starting in most of the season’s games. The Chippewas only had her for a short amount of time before Miagkova was called up to play internationally with the Russian Senior National Team.
At the age of 18, Miagkova was one of the youngest players to compete with the national team. In her debut against Estonia in a qualifying match for the world cup, she secured Russia’s 4-0 win with her first goal with the team. She returned to Central Michigan and finished their 2019 season strongly. That spring, Miagokva was called up to the national team again and appeared in three friendly matches against China, as they prepared for the world cup.
Following the 2019 season, Miagkova transferred to play with the Syracuse Orange for her senior year. The Orange were coming off of a tough 2020 season with a 1-7 record, all while transforming their program to work with the pandemic. Miagkova started in all eight games during the 2020 season.
“I really like Syracuse University because it’s one of the best universities in the nation with great athletic performance and sport’s level,” Miagkova said.
Miagokva is looking forward to a strong season with the Orange already off to a more successful start in 2021.
She will be finishing up her college career in December and plans to continue her soccer career playing professionally in Europe after her time at Syracuse.
