North Tonawanda’s Christina Sarokon has spent much of the last eight years defending against some of the top talent in the nation.

Whether it was at the state, regional or national level, Sarokon excelled, garnering top recognition and paving the way for her future in women’s soccer.

Wednesday, the former Lady Jacks goalkeeper took the next step in her young career, signing her National Letter of Intent to play for St. Bonaventure next fall.

“Being here with my family and having all the people I love surround me and support me in what I’m doing is awesome,” said Sarokon, who signed a ceremonial letter at the North Tonawanda High School library alongside her father, Brian, and mother, Katia, as well as NT principal Jim Fisher and athletic director Cynthia Bullis.

Sarokon, who was regarded as the 12th-ranked player in the region (topdrawersoccer.com) entering her senior season, said the decision was easy to commit to Bonaventure.

“I love St. Bonaventure,” said Sarokon, who verbally committed last March. “I’ve been there a couple times. I’ve visited, I’ve stayed overnight, I’ve met the team, I’ve known the coach, and they’re all great and I’m excited to join the family. I bleed brown.”

This past fall the Bonnies, who are coached by Manoj Knettry, finished 9-7-4 overall and 4-2-3 in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Sarokon said that she’s eager to contribute to a program she believes is on the upswing.

“The Atlantic 10 is a great conference and I also love the coaches and the team,” she said. “It’s a family, it’s not clique, it’s not groups of people. We’re a family and the team is on the rise.”

Staying close to home, though, also played a big part in where she play collegiately.

“I’m really close to my family: My mom, dad and all my friends. It’s not too far, not too close. It’s perfect. It’s a two-hour drive at the most,” she said of the trip to Olean. “It’s really important to stay close to my family and friends, where I come from.”

Sarokon got her start on the state travel circuit with the New York State West team as a 10-year-old before making the Region I team the following year. She went head to head with the top talent in the country for four years on the Region I squad and later earned a sport on the Under-14 National Team in 2008 where she traveled to play in tournaments in California and Costa Rica. Most recently she played keeper for Empire United-Syracuse.

“It’s always great competition with those teams,” Sarokon said. “You’re playing against the best teams in the country, with the national league especially. It’s made me the player that I am. I’ve had private training with my goalkeeper coach, Mike Idland, and he’s helped me get to where I am today.”

Where she is today as made both her parents extremely proud.

“She’s played at the highest level with her club team, highest level with the U.S. National Team, and at NT here for four years,” Brian Sarokon said. “She’s really dedicated and I can’t wait to see her play in college.”

Brian said he was happy with his daughter’s decision to remain relatively close despite garnering looks from Division I programs as far away as California and Florida.

“She wanted to stay close and I could tell. We had about 25 Division I schools that were interested in her,” he said. “We’re both glad that we can go watch her play instead of having her maybe in California where we could only see her play maybe one or two games.”

Contact sports editor Brandon Koch at 693-1000, ext. 4117.