06-17-2025, 07:06 PM
Starting a thread for the 2025 women’s team with a post focusing on the Frosh.
Roster: https://gostanford.com/sports/womens-soccer/roster
Caveats:
1. I am too cheap to pay for services like topdrawersoccer - though I find those rankings lacking anyway. But if anybody has access, please chime in.
2. There isn’t a lot of video out there for some players - I am especially surprised how little youth NT footage I could find for Nguyen and Tay.
3. Highlights for obvious reasons are only somewhat useful in evaluating players.
4. Even at the ECNL level, some of the play is very rough around the edges. High school tape is mostly useless since few top level girls play high school anymore.
Possible open positions for 2025 when evaluating the possible impact of the incoming Frosh.
1. GK
2. RB
3. Reserve outside back
4. Depending on Emri’s health, reserve CB
5. Depending on the health of Aikey and Thomas, reserve CF.
6. Reserve L/RF.
Midfield is an absolute logjam with very few minutes available sans injuries.
There are definitely fewer open position possibilities vs. the last 2 years; so I expect less impact this year from Frosh overall.
8 incoming players - 7th ranked class overall by topdrawersoccer.
1. Birkel, GK. Starter for the U20 USWNT which would make her probably the top goalie in the class. Likely starter this year, though we have seen basically nothing of the current reserves so who knows. Craig played all but 8 minutes last year.
2. Bray - is listed as an outside MF. Played for the USL-W (so semi-pro) with Salmon Bay as the youngest player on the team. Pretty impressed with her tape, and I could see her converting to RB this year and playing a lot of minutes or even starting. Very composed on the ball, and she showed some solid defending ability.
3. Freer - DM. A bit like Harvey - taller, lanky player at 5’8”. Very stay at home DM despite converting from forward. Also like Harvey, she can be a bit loose with the ball. No chance she displaces Bhuta, and it’s unlikely she plays a lot this year.
4. Harrison - F. I could find no tape, but she is the #8 player in a very deep California class. If she has good speed like her sister, she could find an important role as a reserve wide forward.
5. Holden- F or MF. She is listed as a MF in the services, but most of her tape is R/LF. She looks to have decent speed and skill, but I wasn’t blown away. A lot of the video has high school tape which is hard to evaluate though; so I may be making a bad assessment here. She also likes to cut inside more then stay wide at forward. She won’t play much at MF, but options are open as a reserve forward.
6. Noe Johnson. MF. Ranked as the 71st best player in California, but her tape is really interesting and one service noted she could be a major sleeper in the class. Tall (5’11”), fast and with solid skills. Played as an AM on the tape I saw, and she rampages a lot like Aikey from that position. No idea if she can be that good, but she could be really important either now or in a year or 2. She might also be able to backup at CF with her size.
7. Y-Lan Nguyen - MF. A little small, but a better athlete than I expected. She has played for the USWNT youth teams at a couple of levels. Her skill level is just wow - and I was looking at 2 year old tape. Beautiful control, excellent passing and accurate shooting. If she can hold up physically at the NCAA level, MF is going to be a mess to sort out.
8. Alex Tay - CB. Plays for the Ghana youth national teams, and I just couldn’t find much on You Tube surprisingly. If Emri is healthy, she is likely only a backup this year, but after all of the CB injuries last year, even more depth would be a very good thing.
Roster: https://gostanford.com/sports/womens-soccer/roster
Caveats:
1. I am too cheap to pay for services like topdrawersoccer - though I find those rankings lacking anyway. But if anybody has access, please chime in.
2. There isn’t a lot of video out there for some players - I am especially surprised how little youth NT footage I could find for Nguyen and Tay.
3. Highlights for obvious reasons are only somewhat useful in evaluating players.
4. Even at the ECNL level, some of the play is very rough around the edges. High school tape is mostly useless since few top level girls play high school anymore.
Possible open positions for 2025 when evaluating the possible impact of the incoming Frosh.
1. GK
2. RB
3. Reserve outside back
4. Depending on Emri’s health, reserve CB
5. Depending on the health of Aikey and Thomas, reserve CF.
6. Reserve L/RF.
Midfield is an absolute logjam with very few minutes available sans injuries.
There are definitely fewer open position possibilities vs. the last 2 years; so I expect less impact this year from Frosh overall.
8 incoming players - 7th ranked class overall by topdrawersoccer.
1. Birkel, GK. Starter for the U20 USWNT which would make her probably the top goalie in the class. Likely starter this year, though we have seen basically nothing of the current reserves so who knows. Craig played all but 8 minutes last year.
2. Bray - is listed as an outside MF. Played for the USL-W (so semi-pro) with Salmon Bay as the youngest player on the team. Pretty impressed with her tape, and I could see her converting to RB this year and playing a lot of minutes or even starting. Very composed on the ball, and she showed some solid defending ability.
3. Freer - DM. A bit like Harvey - taller, lanky player at 5’8”. Very stay at home DM despite converting from forward. Also like Harvey, she can be a bit loose with the ball. No chance she displaces Bhuta, and it’s unlikely she plays a lot this year.
4. Harrison - F. I could find no tape, but she is the #8 player in a very deep California class. If she has good speed like her sister, she could find an important role as a reserve wide forward.
5. Holden- F or MF. She is listed as a MF in the services, but most of her tape is R/LF. She looks to have decent speed and skill, but I wasn’t blown away. A lot of the video has high school tape which is hard to evaluate though; so I may be making a bad assessment here. She also likes to cut inside more then stay wide at forward. She won’t play much at MF, but options are open as a reserve forward.
6. Noe Johnson. MF. Ranked as the 71st best player in California, but her tape is really interesting and one service noted she could be a major sleeper in the class. Tall (5’11”), fast and with solid skills. Played as an AM on the tape I saw, and she rampages a lot like Aikey from that position. No idea if she can be that good, but she could be really important either now or in a year or 2. She might also be able to backup at CF with her size.
7. Y-Lan Nguyen - MF. A little small, but a better athlete than I expected. She has played for the USWNT youth teams at a couple of levels. Her skill level is just wow - and I was looking at 2 year old tape. Beautiful control, excellent passing and accurate shooting. If she can hold up physically at the NCAA level, MF is going to be a mess to sort out.
8. Alex Tay - CB. Plays for the Ghana youth national teams, and I just couldn’t find much on You Tube surprisingly. If Emri is healthy, she is likely only a backup this year, but after all of the CB injuries last year, even more depth would be a very good thing.