Petaluman Paravicini kicks his way into Dartmouth soccer lineup

Petaluma’s Noah Paravicini made his Ivy League soccer debut an impressive one for Dartmouth College this season.|

Petaluma’s Noah Paravicini made his Ivy League soccer debut an impressive one for Dartmouth College last season.

Paravicini played every game as a freshman, and helped Dartmouth reach the second round of the NCAA Tournament before it was eliminated by Syracuse, 2-1. The Petaluman started the final eight games of the campaign.

Paravicini attended Valley Vista Elementary School and Petaluma Junior High before playing high school soccer at Marin Academy.

He was not only one of the dominant players on the Marin Academy team, but one of the best in the Bay Counties League and the North Coast Section. He shared Player of the Year honors with teammate Patch Johnson on the Marin Independent Journal’s All-Marin team.

The Petaluma resident led his high school team in goals (33) and assists (17) as the top offensive player in the league.

Now, things are different, not only on the pitch, but alsoon campus. “It is a completely different lifestyle,” he says of his college experience at Dartmouth.

For one thing, there is more free time, but all that really means is that there is less in-class time.

“You have to be careful not to fall behind,” he says. “After they get out of class, most guys just go to the library and stay there.”

Being an athlete makes time management even more crucial.

“It (soccer) interferes with my studies,” he acknowledges. The team practices or trains three to four hours a day, and when it goes on the road, it becomes even more difficult to keep up with studies.

There is also a big difference on the field, according to Paravicini.

“The speed of play is a lot different,” he explains. “You have to make decisions quicker and react quicker.”

At Dartmouth, especially in his first season, he found that, instead of being the standout, he was one of many excellent soccer players.

“In high school, I was much more the central part of the team,” he says. “In college, there is a whole team of incredible players.”

Paravicini has no basis to compare an Ivy League college with a state school or university, but the computer science major does know that the students at Dartmouth take their studies seriously.

“A lot of the students are very self-confident, and everybody is unbelievably focused on academics,” he explained.

Then, there is the New Hampshire winter.

“It is a bit rough,” Paravicini says. “It is not like Northern California. It takes some adjustment.”

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