Reposting in this thread so we have all these thoughts in one place....
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Any soccer recruiting experts out there care to weigh in on the class we got? I don't have a good sense of soccer recruiting, but I see we signed five players: D Madison Ayson (Rocklin, CA), MF Emily Chiao (Phoenix, AZ), MF Maya Doms (Davis, CA), MF Paige Rubenstein (Davis, CA), and D Kennedy Wesley (Rossmoor, CA).
Per Top Drawer Soccer, Doms and Wesley are 5-star players, two of just 10 with that designation. Ayson, Chiao, and Rubenstein are 3-star recruits by that same service. I can't get more granular than that because of a paywall, but we certainly seem to have gotten some star power at the top of the class. (And I don't even know if that's a useful recruiting service; it's just the one I readily found.)
In terms of roster math, it looks like we're about on track, since we lose graduating seniors Alana Cook, Jordan DiBiasi, Tegan McGrady, and Michelle Xiao, as well as fifth-year player Alison Jahansouz. (Do you all know if Averie Collins didn't play this year due to injury or some other reason, and if she is going to return for a fifth year?) Of course, you can't just replace 4-year starters like that, but position-wise, we seem to be in good shape. (We didn't sign another keeper, but from what little I know, three keepers--a rising senior and two rising sophomores--seems like enough depth, with Lauren Rood as the presumptive starter.)
Anyone with more insight on the incoming class than I could glean from a little light googling?
(12-20-2018, 01:15 PM)oldalum Wrote: Our big need for 2019 is back line (especially outside back) and midfield; only one player's position is identified in the article (defender). We don't need forwards immediately unless they can be converted to outside back, a la Kelley O'Hara.
Two defenders and three midfielders, so it looks like we're hitting our needs, at least. Whether they're the
right players remains to be seen, of course.
(12-20-2018, 01:15 PM)oldalum Wrote: BobK, do you (or anyone) know where the 2020 recruits hail from (the article is about the 2019 recruits)? I'm a little concerned that all 5 for next year are from California: there's lots of great soccer talent from the rest of the country that we've traditionally plundered.
Per Top Drawer, four of the 2020 commits are from California (D Julia Leontini from Danville, MFs Catherine and Sarah Paulson from Los Altos, and F Samantha Williams from Laguna Beach) and one is from Georgia (Astrid Wheeler). In 2021, three of the five commits are from California (all defenders, Nya Harrison from San Diego, Andrea Kitahata from Hillsborough, and Kellie Pagador from Roseville), one is from New York (a fourth defender, Avani Brandt), and one is from Michigan (GK Haley Craig).