BUFFALO TWP — On a fateful trip to a sporting goods store, Cassie Suran's life changed forever.

When she was 6, the Freeport senior and her father went to purchase new shin guards for soccer when a pair of figure skates caught their eye.

“My dad said, 'Oh, Merry Christmas,' and got me a pair,” Suran said. “He got me skating and I kept tripping over the toe picks, so he got me hockey skates and some lady saw me and said, 'You wanna try hockey?'”

Suran did and she immediately took to the sport.

Now she's a senior defenseman for the Freeport hockey team.

That's just one of her roles this fall. Suran is also the starting goalkeeper for the Yellowjacket girls soccer team.

It's a strenuous schedule this time of year with the two sports overlapping, but Suran has been able to juggle the hockey puck with the soccer ball.

“Sometimes I just have to pick and choose,” Suran said. “Usually hockey comes first, but this year it's been soccer because we've been playing so well and I'm the only goalie. It puts pressure on me to be here. I make sure it works. I've been doing it for a lot of years.”

Suran has put together quite the soccer season for Freeport, which won the section title for the first time since 2006.

Suran has recorded eight shutouts and has given up 11 goals in 15 matches for Freeport (11-3-1, 10-0-1).

“I can't speak highly enough of Cassie,” said Freeport girls soccer coach Brittni Grenninger. “She's a fantastic hockey player as well. She has natural ability. She's come up and saved so many games. I can't speak highly enough of the four or five saves she has each game. They're huge saves.”

Suran started her soccer career at forward as a young girl.

“I used to have really good foot skills and be able to dribble and shoot,” Suran said.

But fate intervened again when she was 8 and her 10-and-under soccer team was missing its goalkeeper because of illness.

“I said, 'I'll try it,'” Suran said. “They haven't let me out since.”

Grenninger is certainly happy they didn't.

“Cassie's just been a stud,” Grenninger said. “She's a tremendous athlete and a great team player and she just comes up big for us so many times.”

On the ice, Suran is just as aggressive and ferocious.

She's not afraid to initiate contact and when she does get a good hit on an opponent, Suran draws a little more attention than most because of her gender.

“Their team usually makes fun of them and my teammates usually go, 'Ooh' and make fun of them, too,” Suran said. “But my teammates treat me like a sister and don't treat me any different.”

Suran is being recruited by colleges for both sports.

“I know I'm going to have to pick one because playing both in college will probably not happen,” Suran said. “Hockey has been my life for 10 years, so it's what I really pursued. I was told I couldn't go anywhere for soccer. I talked to some hockey coaches and some of the (Division I schools) said it's not possible at all to play both, where the Division III schools have said if I want to do it and if I think I can do it, go ahead.

“(The Division I women's hockey programs) are up in New York and eight hours away,” Suran added. “So that's going to be the struggle.”