Magnusdottir Enjoys Breakthrough Freshman Season

South Carolina midfielder Selma Sol Magnusdottir isn’t your typical freshman. Although a rookie at the collegiate level, the native of Reykjavik, Iceland, is a mature 20-year-old with plenty of international experience that has certainly helped make her an integral part of the 2018 lineup.

“I was hoping to get here and make a big impact,” Magnusdottir said. “It’s turned out well. I’m hoping to do more!”

Although very talented, Magnusdottir didn’t go through the typical recruiting process. For Icelandic athletes to get recruited, there is a company in her homeland which assists athletes in finding American universities where they might be able to study and compete.

“I did not come on a recruiting visit, but I spoke with (associate head coach) Jamie (Smith) online and through Skype, and I liked South Carolina a lot,” Magnusdottir said. “When I looked more into the school, I liked it a lot. I liked that the soccer team is always ranked pretty high, and they’ve been doing well in the SEC and in the NCAA Tournament. That made a big impact.” 

Magnusdottir made an early impact, assisting on freshman Riley Tanner’s game winning goal in a 1-0 season opening win at home over Fordham. She scored the game-winner in South Carolina’s next match, a 2-0 victory over the College of Charleston, and later immersed herself into the rivalry with Clemson by earning the assist on sophomore Lauren Chang’s game-winning goal in the 1-0 victory over the Tigers four days later.

“The school is really cool, too. I like the campus a lot.”
– Selma Sol  Magnusdottir

Magnusdottir missed a couple of games with the Gamecocks earlier this month while playing for Iceland’s national team in FIFA’s World Cup qualifiers against Germany the Czech Republic. Prior to that, she played for Iceland’s U-19 and U-17 teams.

“The biggest difference between international and college soccer is the ages of the girls,” Magnusdottir said. “Here, the girls are mostly 18 to 22 years old. With the national team, you play with all ages. That’s a big difference. You learn a lot from those older players. It has helped me a lot to be a more mature player.”

Magnusdottir has transitioned well to the college game, but she has had to make other adjustments to life in South Carolina.

“The biggest adjustment is probably the English,” Magnusdottir said. “I don’t speak English much at home. I started learning it when I was around 10 years old, but we don’t speak it a lot unless we go overseas.”

Magnusdottir hasn’t had a problem understanding a southern accent, but she says that some of her classmates and teammates struggle to pronounce her name while also having little knowledge of her home country.

“Not many of my teammates can pronounce it; maybe around five,” Magnusdottir said. “A lot of people think there is a lot of ice there, but there’s not! It’s beautiful. That’s probably one misunderstanding. A lot of people ask how it’s set up. For example, we don’t have states. Sometimes people ask if I can drive to another country from there. They don’t know it’s an island.”

While her last name may be tricky to pronounce, the story behind Icelandic surnames is different than what is customary in the United States.

“At home you get the name of your father,” Magnusdottir explained. “Magnus is my father’s first’s name and ‘dottir’ is like saying ‘Magnus’ daughter.’ My brother’s (last name) is Magnus’ son, so ‘Magnusson.’ You don’t get a last name like you do here. When you get married, you don’t change your last name. I’ve had to explain that a lot.”

Magnusdottir is acclimating to southern cuisine, but that’s to be expected.

“At home, we have a lot of fish,” Magnusdottir said. “There’s not a lot that I can’t get here though, so it’s good. We do have a tradition back home where we eat all kinds of stuff, and I don’t really like it, but my father does. We eat shark and things like lamb heads. It’s sort of a tradition, but not too many people do it anymore.”

Magnusdottir enjoys lots of other sports, including snowboarding, although she won’t exactly be doing much of that in Columbia. Still, she is enjoying her time in South Carolina, on and off the pitch.

“One of the things I like about here is that everything is close,” Magnusdottir said. “You don’t have to drive a lot to get to places. The school is really cool, too. I like the campus a lot.”