Picture this: It’s Halloween night, 2024. ¶¶Ňő¶ĚĘÓƵ women’s soccer is leading the University of Albany 2-0 as the match approaches its 87th minute.
Senior midfielder Isabella Martillo '25, MBA '26, nails a 16-yard goal off the crossbar with her left foot — her first collegiate goal.
Rewind to Nov. 5, 2020, almost four years to the day: Martillo, a senior in high school and captain of the girls soccer team is playing her school’s rival. Up to this point, her team has won three straight county championships and she’s being recruited by elite college programs.
In that game, she is slidetackled and tears her left ACL, an athlete’s worst nightmare.
“I remember going home that night and crying for hours,” Martillo said. “The flood of emotions — how am I going to tell my club coaches? How am I going to tell the college coaches that I’m speaking to right now. Some of the schools wanted to see me play again. Some of them hadn’t even seen me play.”
The New Jersey native was hit with a wave of anxiety. Recovering from a massive injury is hard enough, but she also had to secure an offer from a program that still believed in her.
After a reassuring phone call with head coach Neel Bhattacharjee and advice from her parents, friends, and mentors, Martillo chose Binghamton.
Her college career was not easy, with most of the first three years spent on the bench and in the training room, rehabbing from various injuries. Times were tough, but rather than wallowing in self-pity, Martillo took a different approach.
“My role was to support my teammates on the field while being off the field. I took pride in that because I understood my role. I was just waiting for my opportunity,” she said.
As a result, Martillo was named teammate of the year, an award voted on by the players, as a junior.
Martillo used her lack of playing time as fuel to train harder and eventually, that perseverance paid off. In her senior year and only year as a graduate student, she was a key contributor to teams that combined for a solid 17-8-10 record and lost in the America East semifinals both years.
On the academic front, Martillo entered Binghamton undecided on a major and career path. Her first semester was rough, as her injury and adjustment to college were overwhelming. But, like she did in athletics, she bounced back and ended up being the epitome of a student-athlete.
After taking various classes, she landed on economics. Martillo chose to pursue the one-year accelerated MBA program with the School of Management.
“I want to work with clients,” she said, “while also being involved in structuring transactions — whether that’s financing, cash flow management, or regulations where I can use my analytical and communication skills, along with the soft skills I’ve developed through athletics.”
As a graduate student, she transformed into a future professional by relentlessly networking, forging strong relationships with professors, leveraging SOM career services, and dedicating herself to her coursework.
