Team CSUSA

Maria Kilset works as a Recruitment Associate from the Oslo HQ. She graduated with a 4.0 GPA from Columbus State University in Georgia with a bachelor’s in business administration majoring in general business. She played soccer for the Columbus State Cougars for 4.5 years, going all the way to the semifinals in the NCAA D2 Championship in 2022.

Maria started her career at Columbus State University in 2018, where the team ended up as number six on the national rankings by the end of the season. CSU plays in the Peach Belt Conference in NCAA D2, and Maria won the regular season with her team in 2018, 2021, and 2022. In her freshman and sophomore season she had a challenging time with injuries making it hard to compete for playing time. However, things started going into the right direction her senior- and fifth year. Maria recorded a total of 13 assists as a right back in 2021, while logging a total 1647 minutes that season. This resulted in Maria earning 2^nd team All-Conference and D2CCA team of 2021. As a result of covid-19 taking away her junior season, she got the opportunity to stay for her fifth year. The 2022 season ended up being the best season Maria experienced personally and as a team. She started in all 24 games, logging a total of 1914 minutes. In 2022 the team had a 19-3-1 record, making it all the way to the semifinals of the NCAA D2 Championship in Seattle.

Maria received the “Student of excellence award” from the business school at Columbus State, together with the “General business award” by the marketing and management department in 2022. These two awards marked the hard effort made in the classroom, which resulted in Maria becoming a Scholar All-American in 2022.

“I am so grateful for the 4.5 years I got to spend in the United States. My journey started off tough, where I faced several challenges on the way. However, I learned a lot about myself and managed to turn things around by putting in hard work on and off the field. I am very happy that I decided on staying for my fifth year, as that season ended up being the very best. I was a part of an incredible team, with coaches and players who really loved the game and challenged each other to get better every single day. This is something I am proud to have been a part of, and I have made friends for life along the way.”

Favorite place in the USA:

Nashville, Tennessee

Favorite former college athlete:

Kelley O’Hara (Stanford University)

Favorite moment in college career:

The quarter final game against University of West Florida my last season where we won 4-3 after being down 1-3. This was by far the craziest game of my life, and the last game I played on our home field. It was a very special moment when we scored the game winning goal in the 87^th minute, and realized we were going to the final four.

Favorite quote:

If you can’t outplay them, outwork them – Ben Hogan