| CONFERENCE TEAM RANKINGS |
| ACC |
1. North Carolina
2. Duke
3. Virginia
4. Wake Forest |
5. Clemson
6. Florida State
7. Boston College
8. Maryland |
9. Virginia Tech
10. NC State
11. Miami FL |
ALL IN ONE YEAR? HEAD OVER HEELS
It's hard to imagine UNC setting any kind of new standard in women's soccer but the Heels may have outdone themselves with this year's recruiting class. Seven recruits (originally eight before McDonald didn't gain admission) rank among the Top 25 in the country and should anyone doubt our individual rankings, you need to only consider all seven of these players have played with US Youth National teams or been recent pool players. The early high school graduations of Casey Noguiera and Nikki Washington set this class on fire and should easily atone for Jessica McDonald's MIA status. From Ali Hawkins to Tobin Heath to Whitney Engen to Melissa Hayes, this set of rookies has the midfield covered and some will certainly get a strong look to move to the back. Up top, Noguiera and Washington could easily settle into striker roles if Ashley Moore doesn't earn one of those spots. If that's not enough, Carolina got blue bloodline Caroline Boneparth, an Eastern NY ODP state player and NY Class HS Player of the Year, who could earn playing time up top or on the wings. The lone true defender in this class is Kristi Eveland of the Dallas Texans club who recently earned all-state honors in Texas and helped her club team to the national semifinals in 2003.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
UNC, Virginia, Duke and Boston College are all sizzling in the world of recruiting as all four have had Top 25 national signing classes for at least six straight seasons. Almost every ACC team is pulling in top recruits and even though Miami consistently brings up the rear, Coach Taliaferro scrambled with some late signees that placed the Hurricane class among the nation's Top 100 despite finishing last in the ACC.
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| America East |
1. Boston Univ
2. Maine
3. Binghamton
4. Vermont |
5. Hartford
6. Stony Brook
7. New Hampshire
8. UMBC |
9. Albany |
TERRIERS ON A TEAR
The BU train has no end in sight as the best recruits belong to Boston for the fifth time in the last six years. Keeper Jane Reilly is a big get for this program which has been flirting with national polls and dynasty status in the league. The bulk of this class is four local Bay State standouts, all earning prep all-state recognition. Emily Pallotta, Shauna Kelleher and Casey Brown were named NSCAA Regional All-Americans as midfielders and defender Mikaela Hansen is the fourth home-state signee. Farrell McClernon won an ODP National Championship this spring and gives BU a second, along with Pallotta, Region 1 ODP pool player in this year's class. Corie Halasz is another signee with an ODP national title, playing with the Connecticut state team and Californians Laura Schwartz and Taleen Dimirdjian are decorated prepsters from the west coast.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
BU continues to dominate recruiting in the America East. Maine is the only team to out-recruit the Terriers in the last six years. The Black Bears have another solid group this year and Binghamton gives the league three teams finishing in the Top 100 nationally. Give UMBC credit for an improved program that is getting results during the season, but the Retrievers consistently join Albany as two of the weaker recruiting programs in the league.
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| Atlantic 10 |
1. Dayton
2. Richmond
3. Charlotte
4. St Louis
5. Massachusetts |
6. Rhode Island
7. La Salle
8. Duquesne
9. Xavier
10. Fordham |
11. G Washington
12. St Joseph's
13. St Bonaventure
N/A Temple |
DAYTON HOLDS STRONG
The Flyers have had a stranglehold on the top recruiting spot for years in the Atlantic 10. The top four this year are tightly bunched but Dayton's class just edges Richmond's for the second year. Last year, Dayton harvested Ohio almost exclusively. This year, they got several strong in-state products including HS All-American Mandi Back and Region 2 player Emily Miller. Yet, the keys to this class this time around came from outside the state. Tasha Dittamore of Illinois is another Region 2 player headed to Dayton and Kansan Lindsey Miller won five state title with her KCFC Aliance team. The top newcomers might be two members of Ontario's Provincial Team, Cara Cornacchia and Lauren Maybury. Both come from the highly successful Dixie club team and Cornacchia has been among Canada's U-17 national team camp invitees. Forward Colleen Gibson hails from California and the Santa Anita Strikers program as Dayton loaded up on strikers and defenders in this year's group.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
Richmond is pushing Dayton hard in conference recruiting with another great class while conference newcomers Charlotte and Saint Louis are bringing in exactly the type of recruits that will make them both contenders for a league title. UMass is quietly building a foundation with two straight solid signing classes. George Washington must get better recruits than they've signed the last three seasons and St Bonaventure's new coach has a lot of work ahead of him.
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| Atlantic Sun |
1. Campbell
2. Mercer
3. Belmont
4. Jacksonville |
5. Gardner-Webb
6. Kennesaw State
7. East Tenn St
8. North Florida |
9. Stetson
10. Lipscomb |
YOU CAN FIT THEM ALL ON ONE CAMEL
With just three players, you could almost fit Campbell's entire signing class on a strong, watered-up camel. But these three pack punch and will keep the Fighting Camels a contender in the Atlantic Sun. With Florida Atlantic's departure to the Sun Belt, Campbell gets the inside fast track with its trio of rookies. Satu Hermunen is a striker that has played with Finland's U-19 National Team in the European U-19 Championships. With only 21 goals last year, Coach Dillon wanted more offense and the other two signees could join Hermunen in the top third. Kaili Terry helped the North Texas ODP team to a share of the national title this spring and she comes out of the Dallas Texans Red program. An all-state forward in Missouri, Autumn McEachern was also District Offensive Player of the Year.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
Mercer is doing all the right things with yet another signing class that is impressive. The Bears just need to turn that into production in the A-Sun. Just two years ago, Belmont was near the bottom of the NCAA RPIs and had never won more than two league games. The Bruins are moving up slowly and this year's standout class will make a big difference. Lipscomb, on the other hand, could learn from its Nashville neighbor and look beyond local high schools and hit some strong club programs to improve its chances of being competitive.
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| Big 12 |
1. Texas A&M
2. Iowa State
3. Oklahoma State
4. Missouri |
5. Kansas
6. Texas Tech
7. Baylor
8. Nebraska |
9. Colorado
10. Oklahoma
11. Texas |
A&M AT'EM AGAIN
Texas A&M slips every year or two to second or third in Big 12 recruiting but is always strong enough to be among the nation's Top 25 classes. In 2006, recruiting is back atop the league with four heralded signees. Texans Amber Gnatzig and Whitney Hooper are both Top 50 recruits who have been in the US Youth National team pools for years. Each earned Youth All-America honors more than once and will be joined by their Challenge club teammate, Nicole Ketchum, who is a Region 3 Team member. The Aggies needed help in net with the graduation of All-America Kati Jo Spisak and got that with capable netminder Kristin Arnold of Colorado. An all-state prepster, Arnold led Real Colorado to a club state title and also played on the Colorado ODP State Team.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
The Aggies remain the hottest, most consistent recruiting school in the Big 12. Yet, Oklahoma State continues to make headlines with international signees and has a class among the nation's best for the fifth time in six years. If the Cowgirls could just keep some of those players around more than a couple of years. Oklahoma again has a group that would seem to disappoint by Big 12 standards but the Sooners had a huge turnaround in 2005 despite a low recruiting outlook. Could Colorado be slipping? The big names aren't headed to Boulder like they were just four years ago. And Texas? No official release from the Longhorns but unless some internationals are added, this class will be nothing compared to recent groups that made national headlines.
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| Big East |
1. Notre Dame
2. Rutgers
3. Connecticut
4. Marquette
5. Villanova |
6. West Virginia
7. South Florida
8. St John's
9. Louisville
10. Cincinnati |
11. Providence
12. Syracuse
13. Georgetown
14. Pittsburgh
15. DePaul |
IRISH RETURN TO ROYAL SPOT
So the Irish stepped aside one year and allowed another Big East program to finish ahead of them in recruiting in 2005. Well, things are back to normal as Notre Dame heads a packed Big East recruiting field. Coach Waldrum inked five preps among our Top 125 players, three of whom earned All-America status. Michelle Weissenhofer is an All-America and Region 2 ODP player and joined with fellow Region 2 player, Amanda Clark, to lead her club team Eclipse Select to two national crowns. Clark and Weissenhofer reached ODP nationals with their state team as did two other Irish signees, Haley Ford (TX) and Courtney Rosen (OH). Ford is a versatile player with the Dallas Texans Red and is a Region 3 ODP pool member. Rosen is one of the most decorated prep recruits in Irish history with five total All-America honors for HS and youth play. A US U-17 pool player, Rosen earned several state cup titles with her club, Internationals. Another Youth All-America headed to South Bend is Kelsey Lysander, a Region 4 ODP keeper who earned All-CIF honors in San Diego prep play. Walk-ons such as Micaela Alvarez (NJ) and Rachel VanderGenugten (IN) will give the Irish more depth.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
Connecticut hangs tough with the Irish with another excellent class. Rutgers and Marquette ink a class as good as any in their programs' histories. South Florida unquestionably found a way to position the Big East as a positive as the Bulls scored high. DePaul is falling quickly in the expanded Big East and Pittsburgh, despite some success on the field last year, didn't capitalize in the recruiting world. Seton Hall is not included in our report since we didn't learn about enough Hall recruits.
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| Big Sky |
1. Portland State
2. Sacramento State
3. Northern Arizona
4. Eastern Washington |
5. Weber State
6. Montana
7. Northern Colorado
8. Idaho State |
VIKINGS SHORE UP ON RECRUITING
Portland State went from last to first with this year's haul of new players. A coaching change in the height of last year's recruiting season didn't help a program that had been on a roll but Coach Bennett has Portland State right back on top in the recruiting wars in the Big Sky. A quality class of 14 newcomers is hard to beat in numbers alone but this group has great credentials as well. Rachel Jarvis and Michelle Massar are the lone home-state signees and both come from a great club program at Lake Oswego. Eight freshmen will arrive from Washington state with Kari Fowler and keeper Cris Lewis bringing an ODP National Championship to Portland. Hailing from Canada, Nathalie Wollman may be the biggest offensive addition in this class as she is part of the Alberta Provincial Team. Californians Suzanne Hinton and Maya Fontaine come from strong club programs and Tarah Autheir was MVP at the Alaskan state championships. Nine of these recruits collectively won over 30 state cup titles with their club teams.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
With a regional ranking for the third time in four years, Portland State should be headed back in the direction the program started before a coaching change. Makings its own case in the league is Sacramento State who has now inked the second best class in the conference for the second year in a row. Idaho State's fallout continues with another poor recruiting period and Montana seems content to settle back in the pack in a league it once dominated.
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| Big South |
1. Charleston Sou
2. Birmingham-Sou
3. Radford
4. High Point |
5. Coastal Carolina
6. UNC Asheville
7. Winthrop
8. Liberty |
9. VMI |
BUCCANEERS TAKE THEIR TURN
For the fourth consecutive year, a different school has won bragging rights for recruiting in the Big South. Charleston Southern started looking beyond the Carolina coastal regions a couple of years ago and it is paying off with high caliber signings. This class is special because of Swedish keeper Maria Cederholm. Her experience with Sweden's youth national teams got richer this spring as she has been a roster player for the national squad competing in the European U-19 Championships. Coach Terrill picked up another solid goalie with InterUnited Hayasa's Jena Uvalle who has been part of the Florida ODP state team pool. Local midfielder and two-time all-stater Sarah Catenacci plays with the South Carolina ODP state team while winning a prep state title and the state cup with her CESA club program. Alyssa Clay and Toni Interrant are two great defensive additions. Clay comes from club power Colorado Rush which won three state championships wth Clay in tow. Interrant also captured a state crown with her Smithtown HS squad. Caitlin Wesnesky could get a look at the forward spot after earning all-state honors in New Jersey. The Buccaneers picked up another addition with the transfer of forward Jen Vroman who earned All-MAAC Rookie honors last season while at Rider.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
Birmingham Southern may have dipped recently in the conference standings but two solid years of recruiting will help BSC get back to the top of the league. High Point is quietly becoming a force in the Big South with good additions the last three years. VMI will keep struggling from the bottom without better signings and Winthrop made headlines last year with their announced signings but didn't get them all on campus and failed the mark in 2006.
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Big Ten |
1. Penn State
2. Illinois
3. Minnesota
4. Ohio State |
5. Indiana
6. Wisconsin
7. Michigan
8. Purdue |
9. Michigan St
10. Northwestern
11. Iowa |
THE LIONS' ROAR IS LOUD
Only once in five years has a team out-recruited Penn State in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions are getting to the College Cup for a reason--they are snagging the top recruits every year. Even without a complete list from Penn State on this year's signings, this group rates first. A two-time Youth All-America and US U-17 player, Alyssa Naeher is the top goalie in this year's senior class. Striker Akilah Duggan is another US U-17 star and two-time All-America. Katie Schoepfer and Ali Rago are two of the best preps out of Connecticut and will give Coach Wilkins plenty of options in replacing All-American Tiffany Weimer at the forward spot. Both were on the Connecticut state team that finished second at ODP Nationals in 2004. Defensively, Penn State added all-state players Nicole Sherman of Connecticut and Jamie Morrison of Pennsylvania. Two big sleepers who inked with Penn State might be Tara Davies and Maura Ryan. Davies has been a Region 1 ODP pool player and starred with Match Fit Academy while making the Super Y National Select team. Ryan achieved all-state honors in the Keystone state and played with the Eastern PA ODP state team.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
Penn State can have its lock on recruiting, but Illinois and Ohio State have a set of keys of their own. Both schools keep landing some of the best recruits in the country and neither has been shy to look outside the US. The knock-your-socks off class this year is Minnesota who inked its best class ever. Every Big Ten school has a signing group among the nation's Top 100. Except Iowa. The Hawkeyes have dropped fast in recent years and maybe the recent coaching change will pay dividends next time around.
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| Big West |
1. Long Beach St
2. UC Santa Barbara
3. Cal St Fullerton
4. Cal Poly |
5. UC Riverside
6. UC Irvine
7. Pacific
8. Cal St Northridge |
IT'S ANOTHER SUNNY DAY AT THE BEACH
Coach Ingrassia seems to have a fool proof plan at LBSU: recruit the best kids in California. Long Beach's roster will again be loaded with Golden State players as three transfers join the program. The NSCAA JC National Player of the Year, Kristin Childers, moves crosstown from Long Beach CC and should be a force up top. Breanna Truelove returns to her homestate after two years in goal at Oklahoma State. After two years at Nevada, Jasmine Christian could earn some minutes in the backfield for the 49ers. From the prep ranks. Long Beach added multiple All-CIF performers Sarah Strohl, Chantel Hubbard, Tara Corcoran and Nikki Myers. Strohl and Myers both earned POY honors in their HS leagues while Myers has been involved in the Cal South ODP pool. The 49ers added another US U-17 player to their roster with the signing of Yeraldy Hurtado, a Youth All-America midfielder from the Southern Cal United club.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
Building on the recent power ratings and success of Big West teams, a record five programs earned Top 100 signings classes in 2006. Cal State Fullerton and UCSB have been the hottest recruiting teams in the last four years, behind LBSU. The rear is brought up again by Cal State Northridge who has relied on transfers in the past but has just two signings announced for 2006.
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| C-USA |
1. Central Florida
2. UAB
3. Rice
4. Colorado College |
5. Memphis
6. UTEP
7. Marshall
8. Houston |
9. Tulsa
10. East Carolina
11. SMU
12. Southern Miss |
NEW KNIGHTS ARE GOLDEN
Last year's signing class at Central Florida was special with a Top 50 national ranking, but this year's group tops that in a huge way. The states of Florida and Washington were kind to Coach Cromwell as she found four recruits among our Top 200. Three All-Americas are among this group including US U-17 defender Nicole Moore of Virginia. Jenny Baker (WA) and Brianna Schooley (FL) both earned state player of the year honors from the NSCAA during prep careers where each achieved first team all-state honors three times. Schooley is a Region 3 ODP pool player who may be joined in midfield by another Regional ODP player from Washington, Rebecca Thomas. Thomas, out of the FC Royals club, twice led her state team to the ODP nationals, winning the title in 2004. Two more Florida all-state prepsters head to UCF as Cara Bortz is a state ODP player and Courtney Whidden was named St Petersburg Times Player of the Year. The fourth in-state product is Yvonne George from club InterUnited Hayasa as the midfielder has been a part of the state odp program.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
Eleven of the twelve C-USA programs earn regional marks with their signing classes as only Southern Miss missed the train on top recruiting. SMU's class isn't highly ranked but with only two recruits, the Mustangs' placement is limited. Rice and Memphis are both consistently hitting homeruns with recruiting the last three years or so and Marshall finally has a class that might help the Herd move from the league caboose.
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| Colonial |
1. VCU
2. James Madison
3. Northeastern
4. Old Dominion |
5. UNC Wilmington
6. William & Mary
7. George Mason
8. Towson |
9. Delaware
10. Drexel
11. Georgia State
N/A Hofstra |
VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH IS FOR THE WORLD
A 2005 roster that was spotted with international flare becomes more flamboyant in 2006. VCU went to Europe, Africa, north of the border and didn't forget the commonwealth of Virginia in finding its newest recruits. Six of the seven international signees have all played with their countries youth national teams. Two of the greatest additions are Laure Dupont of France, a past member of the French U-21/U-19/U-17 teams, and Priscilla de Vos, a key midfielder on the Dutch U-19 National Team's surprising run final eight run to the 2006 European U-19 Championships. Donna Morwarin and Karin Tersteeg are two other players who have been part of the Netherlands U-19 team in their qualifying matches the last two years. Giffy Gyapong plays with the Ghana U-20 National Team and Myriam Bouchard of Quebec City was once part of the Canadian U-16 team. Stateside, the Rams got three of Virginia's best in Amanda Adams, June Hartman and Cara Howard. All are Virginia ODP state team players while Adams won a state title in high school and Howard led her Beach Fyre club team to a state crown. From Ohio, Emily Arpidone claimed state championships in high school and on the club level while also spending time with the Ohio North ODP state team.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
VCU has a Top 50 national class for the third year running but Northeastern, JMU and ODU are all hanging in with solid classes the last couple of years. Drexel can't seem to pull itself from the lower ranks and Georgia State plummetted after a solid class in 2005. Hofstra continues a standing policy of silence about their new recruits, allowing VCU and others to rack up the good news about their additions.
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| Horizon |
1. Wright State
2. UW-Milwaukee
3. Youngstown St
4. Loyola Chicago |
5. Detroit
6. Butler
7. UW-Green Bay
8. Cleveland State |
HORIZON HAS THE WRIGHT STATE OF MIND
In a year when recruiting seemed down in the competitive Horizon League, Wright State got a solid enough effort from sophomore coach Patrick Ferguson to best out the other league teams. Ferguson did it by hitting just two areas: Cincinnati and South LA. The Raiders picked up four players from the Cincinnati United Premier team that advanced to the national semifinals in 2003. Forward Ashley Vaughan may be the catch of the group as the Centerville product snagged all-state honors in prep play while also lacing up for the Ohio South ODP state team. Abby Mink, Lorrin Bertsch and Megan Bush are the three other CUP players as Mink also earned all-state honors in Ohio. Both California recruits hail from the CRSC Infinity program which captured the national title in US Club play. Nicole Amador of Redondo Beach and Dana Meisner of Los Alamitos could both see time in the midfield or back.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
Milwaukee didn't sign a great class but the team will get good depth from this latest set. Great news came out of Youngstown State which fielded a small, but solid class for a program that has never won more than two games in a season. Cleveland gained momentum in last year's recruiting but the young program fell to the back of the pack in 2006 signing.
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| Independents |
1. UC-Davis |
AGGIES ALONE AND AT THE TOP
The good news for UC Davis is that the program has the best recruits of all independents. The bad news is that UC Davis may be the lone independent left with the Fall 2006 season. The best news is that this class is solid and will help this program be competitive when they finally enter Big West league play in 2007. Lauren Huntley, Britnee Warmerdam and Rochelle VanBuskirk are three highly regarded preps Coach Robinson inked this year. All three were named Super Y Divisional ODP players and Huntley led her MTV Roadrunners to two Super Y North American championships. Four more California signees were all HS All-Conference honorees, indluding forward Jordan Martin, an All-CIF performer, and keeper Sarah Peters, a state champion now playing with Santa Rosa United.
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| Where are the Independents:
Two years ago, thirteen soccer programs were independent, with no conference affiliation. In just two years, we may be down to one and if all holds together, UC-Davis' entry into the Big West could mean no independents by 2007. Where did they go? La Tech joined the WAC after its first year as an independent. Kennesaw State joined the Atlantic Sun after one year in Division 1. Long-time independent Colorado College is now a temporary affiliate of C-USA. Northern Colorado hitched up with the Big Sky. And eight others formed the United Soccer Conference which may expand to ten if NJIT and Francis Marion get things worked out this summer. Say goodbye to independents...unless expected expansion by the Mid-Continent and possibly the Big Sky and others disrupts the nicely formed United Soccer Conference which could quickly go from ten schools to four or five.
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| Ivy |
1. Princeton
2. Harvard
3. Penn
4. Dartmouth |
5. Yale
6. Cornell
7. Brown
8. Columbia |
PRINCETON KEEPS ROLLING IN THE IVY
For the nine years we have done recruiting rankings, Princeton's class has been nationally ranked and this year's set marks the fourth time in the last five years the Tigers have finished atop the Ivy in recruiting. Two state players of the year headline this year's admissions at Princeton. Vicki Anagnostopoulos won the honor in Maryland after a prep career that included three first team all-state honors and the forward is also part of the Region 1 ODP team pool. Marci Pasenello was the POY in New York and earned HS All-America honors twice and is another Region 1 pool member. Out of Texas, Coach Shackford picked up Region 3 ODP team player Lauren Thomas who helped the North Texas state team to the ODP Nationals finals. CASL Spartan sends Jesse George-Nichol to Princeton after a semifinal appearance at nationals in 2005 and a state championship with her East Chapel Hill HS squad. The Tigers also inked PDA Wildcats defender Melissa Seitz. The New Jersey native was with PDA on three trips to the US Nationals, including a championship in 2003. From the west coast, Princeton gets Californian Caitlin Alev, an all-conference defender who plays with the San Juan Spirits.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
The Ivy has quickly returned to its glory days of soccer as every program inked a class ranked regionally and five among the Top 100 nationally. Harvard's class is just a notch below Princeton's as new coach Erickson did well in her first full year of recruiting. Penn's class is nationally ranked for the sixth year in a row, second only to Princeton in the Ivy. Columbia has returned to its familiar role in the back of the Ivy recruiting.
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| MAAC |
1. Loyola MD
2. Fairfield
3. Marist
4. Canisius |
5. Siena
6. Manhattan
7. Iona
8. St Peter's |
No Reports:
Niagara
Rider |
GREYHOUNDS ARE WAY OUT AHEAD AGAIN
We all know in soccer the best team doesn't always win. Loyola surely doesn't win every MAAC Championship, but it's really hard to argue that their recruits are not the best. Coach Byford has stayed in Maryland and NY Metro area to ink another strong group. Brittany Henderson may be his keeper of the future as the Top 50 recruit was a Youth All-America and Region 1 Team player. Strikers Kelly Farrell and Christina Gomez were both formerly part of the Region 1 ODP team pool and Farrell was named to the 2005 Super Y National Select team. A Maryland all-state player, Heather Cooke is a defender with the Bethesda Extreme. Amanda Meehan, an RFC Rovers player and another all-stater from Maryland, is one of several walk-ons.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
Aside from Loyola, no other MAAC school has a real hot streak going with recruiting. Fairfield made a nice move with this year's class which includes All-American Casey Frobey and Australian Emma Howes. Iona and St Peter's have recently been the teams consistently bringing up the rear with signings unlikely capable of deilvering a MAAC title.
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| Mid-American |
1. Bowling Green
2. Ball State
3. Central Michigan
4. Eastern Michigan |
5. Ohio
6. Miami OH
7. Akron
8. Western Michigan |
9. Toledo
10. Buffalo
11. Northern Illinois
12. Kent State |
FALCONS KEEP SOARING
Coach Richards signed the top MAC class for the second year running. Ohio was once again fertile ground for BGSU as nine newcomers come from the Buckeye state as does Louisville transfer Tiffany Hansen. Renae Dietrich and Jacqueline Melendez are two of the more experienced members of this class as both have reached national championship semifinals with their club or state odp teams. Colleen Kordan is a HS All-American as well as Region 2 Team player. Katie Kirkhoff of Indiana is one of five all-state prepsters. Two big additions to this class are from Canada as Jennifer Czapka and Alexa Arsenault both come from strong club programs with Arsenault having played previously with the Ontario Provincial Team.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
Ohio and Akron are two programs that have had two straight solid recruiting classes which should help both move up from their bottom positions in the league. Kent has gone from being a MAC contender to failing the last two seasons in hauling in a noteworthy group. Northern Illinois continues to struggle with finding players that will move NIU from the cellar of this league.
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| Mid-Continent |
1. Oakland
2. Valparaiso
3. Southern Utah
4. Centenary |
5. Western Illinois
6. IUPUI
N/A Oral Roberts |
A GRIZZLY BEAST TO BEAT
Sometimes small and simple goes a long way. Little Oakland appears to have the best crop of recruits yet again in the Mid-Con. Coach O'Shea, as always, stayed within Michigan for most of his recruiting. This class is small, just four scholarship players and a possible walk-on or two, but enough to land ahead of other conference teams. Forward Suzanne Lee is the best addition for the Grizzlies as Lee was a former Region 2 ODP pool player and earned all-state in Minnesota. Marlie Lieberman, Kate Howe and walk-on Jennifer Curtis all hail from the powerhouse Michigan Hawks club team. Lieberman helped the Hawks to the 2005 national semis, Howe played with the Michigan ODP State Team and Curtis was an all-state forward at Heritage HS. Nikki Newbauer also hails from Michigan and will add depth to Oakland's midfield. From Canada, Emma Pope should bring great experience after her time with the Ottawa Fury.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
The bad news for everyone else in the league is that Oakland continues to bring in the best recruits. The good news is that Oakland's recruiting classes aren't leaving dust in everyone's face. Several schools are hanging close and Southern Utah has been very effective in recruiting the last two seasons. Centenary continues its fall to the bottom of the conference and this recruiting group likely won't help while IUPUI went with big numbers but may still have a huge uphill climb to be competitive.
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| Missouri Valley |
1. Creighton
2. Drake
3. Illinois State
4. Missouri State |
5. Indiana State
6. Evansville
7. Northern Iowa |
DEJA VU FOR THE TOP TWO
It's Creighton and Drake again leading the way in the Missouri Valley with Illinois State back in the Top 3 after missing out last year. Creighton's group of signees is among the nation's best and Canada's Eden Hingwing is a big reason for that. Hingwing is part of the national U-20 team and is a key defender in a class loaded with defensive parts. Tara Bailey and Kyla Hoskins are both state odp players from Colorado and Kansas, respectively. Nebraska produced two signess for the Blue Jays in Anne Peetz and Jordan Bruch. Peetz led her club and high school teams to multiple state titles and Bruch is an offensive threat who has played with the Region 2 ODP Team. Two new keepers will both battle for starting time as Justine Hedlund is a member of the North Texas ODP squad and Heather Currie is a transfer from Wake Forest who started in net for the Deacons as a freshman two years ago.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
Creighton, Drake and Illinois State are spot-on with recruiting. All three have regionally ranked signing classes this year and keep alive their hot streak from recent years. On the flip side, Northern Iowa will be hard-pressed to improve on its 1-16 record in 2005 with recent signing classes always at the bottom of the competitive Missouri Valley Conference.
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| Mountain West |
1. San Diego St
2. TCU
3. BYU
4. UNLV |
5. Utah
6. New Mexico
7. Wyoming
N/A Air Force |
JUST AS GOOD THE SECOND TIME AROUND
A year ago, recruiting was the buzz at San Diego State with the Aztecs' Top 20 class. Get your buzz-makers out again because 2006 brings more top news for SDSU. Finishing first in the Mountain West again, Coach Giuliano covered California well to rank among the Top 10 in the tough west region. Two Golden Boot winners of USYS National Championship teams highlight this class. Heather Vandevanter won a national title and was scoring leader at the 2004 nationals. She plays with Mustang Blast and the Cal North ODP state team. Jessica Gordon led Slammers to two national crowns while picking up the Boot for most goals at the 2005 finals. Gordon has been a Region 4 ODP pool player and will be joined at SDSU by her Slammers teammate, defender Leslie White. From the Southern Cal Blues club, Lauren Leslie and Lauren Marquez will suit up as Aztecs. Both helped Blues to state titles and earned All-CIF honors in high school while Leslie also played with the Cal South ODP state team. A Cal North state team player and former Super Y National Select team member, Cat Walker heads south from Sacramento. The Aztecs didn't miss out on finding a new addition from the San Diego Surf program when Shayla Williams, another All-CIF performer, signed to play. The lone out-of-state signee is Allie Crowson who was named State Championship MVP in leading Brighton HS to the Utah state title. Crowson plays with the state ODP squad and has helped the Utah Avalanche to several state cup titles. A late addition to this class was Jacqueline Ragudos out of Cal Poly Pomona where she was an all-conference striker.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
Since its Mountain West arrival, TCU has turned up the recruiting and has another outstanding class of newcomers. BYU and Utah both announced small classes but each got at least one major addition to add to talented rosters. Wyoming and New Mexico flirt with success in the MWC but neither has nailed a crop of recruits that will push their programs to the top.
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| Northeast |
1. Sacred Heart
2. Monmouth
3. St Francis PA
4. Wagner |
5. Long Island
6. Mt St Mary's |
N/A CCSU
N/A Fairleigh Dickinson
N/A Quinnipiac
N/A Robert Morris |
A BANNER YEAR FOR SACRED HEART
The Northeast Conference schools make it tough on us with so many failing to report any recruits officially. That didn't stop us from nabbing Sacred Heart's class as tops in the league despite no official word from the Pioneers. The five we've learned about are enough to outpace other NEC schools. Ashley Testani and Ashley Zimmerman are tremendous finds for Coach Bonner. Testani was part of the Connecticut state team that placed second at the 2004 ODP nationals. Zimmerman formerly played on the Eastern NY ODP state team and previously was named a Super Y regional odp player while part of the CSH Lady Riders. Jackie Sharp is a high school state champion out of West Islip, NY. Forward Kelly Coffey was named an all-state player three times in Rhode Island while Kristen Burch is a keeper from Monroe, NY.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
CCSU usually does well in recruiting but no word this year. Monmouth inked another good class to go with last year's group that ranked first in the league. Mt St Mary's announced just two signings and those will not help the Mount improve on its 0-6-3 conference mark last year.
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| Ohio Valley |
1. Samford
2. Austin Peay
3. Eastern Kentucky
4. Eastern Illinois |
5. Jacksonville St
6. Morehead St
7. SE Missouri St
8. Tenn-Martin |
9. Tennessee Tech
N/A Murray State |
WHO ELSE BUT SAMFORD?
The Bulldogs have reigned supreme with the best recruiting classes since joining the OVC in 2003. Last year's class was full of signees from southern states while this year's group extends into Indiana. Two signees, forwards Natalie Fleming and Paige Lanter, are pool players on regional ODP teams and both won three state titles-Lanter with her high school squad and Fleming with her club team. Amber Cress and Rachel Titus are two prepsters from Indiana. Cress is a Region 2 ODP player who earned All-America honors at Zionsville HS. Titus teamed with Cress to win multiple state titles with their club team, Carmel Heat. Local product Cindy Spiker joins Samford's team after leading her Vestavia Attack team to five state titles and Caroline Baxter is a midfielder from the D'Feeters club in Texas.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
Behind Samford, would you believe the hottest two teams in recruiting in the OVC are Austin Peay and newcomer Eastern Kentucky? Both have turned in top four classes in the league the last two years and APU's group this year has a couple of players ranked among our Top 500. Murray may end up with only a couple of signees with their coaching change which puts the Racers in dire straits but Tennessee Tech and UT-Martin keep trailing in the hunt for top recruits.
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| PAC-10 |
1. UCLA
2. Stanford
3. Arizona
4. Oregon |
5. California
6. Washington St
7. Washington
8. Oregon St |
9. Arizona State
10. USC |
THE WORLD IS RIGHTED IN THE PAC-10
UCLA has become a powerhouse on the soccer field and consistently has a recruiting class among the Top 10 in the country. Yet, this year's #1 ranking in the Pac-10 is the first in three years as other leagues teams have buckled down on recruiting as well. When National POY and US National Team player Lauren Cheney committed to the Bruins, this class was destined to be among UCLA's best ever. Cheney and three other signees have been regular members of US Youth National teams. Lauren Wilmoth twice led the North Texas ODP state team to ODP nationals around her stints with the US youth national teams. Lauren Switzer has recently seen time with the US U-21 squad and helped Eclipse Select to two national championships. US U-17 forward Kristina Larsen earned an ODP National title with the Cal South state team. Dea Cook is a big sleeper who already suits up with the Region 4 team and Jacqui Simon is also part of the Region 4 pool squad who joined with Larsen on Cal South's national title team. With three trips to nationals and one national title, defender Brittany Scannel brings a wealth of experience after her time with Slammer. This class got another boost when Molly Kruger transferred from Indiana. The sophomore midfielder ranked second in scoring for the Hoosiers in 2005 and led the team in shots and assists.
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Stanford has gotten back on the right track with two great recruiting classes and Cal keeps landing some of the best in the nation. Oregon has made a nice move up the last two years. It's hard to single out any one school as needing improvement as nine programs inked Top 100 classes. Oddly, USC went from first to last and the Women of Troy might need to be reminded that national powers are built with top recruits year in and year out. USC may not have needed much after last year's hugely talented class and this year's small group of three is quite capable of contributing to a young team.
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| Patriot |
1. Navy
2. Colgate
3. Bucknell
4. Lehigh |
5. Army
6. Holy Cross
7. American
N/A Lafayette |
NAVY BATTLES BACK TO TOP
In 2005, Navy was unseated for the first time in four years as recruiting champ in the Patriot. Coach Gabarra has the recruiting ship righted with a class that ranks nationally. Lauren Bresnahan of Florida may be the hottest find for Navy as the Region 3 ODP defender helped her Florida Renegades club team and her Florida ODP state squad to national semifinal berths. Region 1 ODP Team player Cassie Barbaresi will add offensive punch to this team after spending time at the IMG Academy. A former Cal North ODP State Team player, Jennifer Grijalva is the lone-known west coast recruit although others may be announced soon. Three all-state players also join this class as the Midshipmen added Amber Lattner of Pennsylvania and Brittany White and Beth Reed of Indiana. White comes out of the strong Carmel club program and national power Carmel HS.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
Colgate's newcomers are among the nation's Top 100 and Lehigh slipped some but did nicely in adding to last year's nationally ranked class. Holy Cross is likely to stay put near the bottom of the league with this year's class and Lafayette, while not reporting recruits yet, seems headed for a fifth year (with Holy Cross) in the bottom two of the Patriot standings.
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| SEC |
1. LSU
2. Georgia
3. Auburn
4. Florida |
5. South Carolina
6. Tennessee
7. Arkansas
8. Mississippi |
9. Alabama
10. Mississippi St
11. Kentucky
12. Vanderbilt |
L-S-U IS L-OVING S-OCCER U-NDOUBTEDLY
In just two years, Coach Lee has done something never achieved at LSU: Sign a national Top 50 recruiting class (#26 in 2005) and sign the best class in the SEC (#1 in 2006). Oh, this 2006 class won't stop there as the Tigers end up with a class among the nation's Top 10. Tiger fans should be roaring about the prospects of LSU soccer as this group includes seven players in our prep Top 100 and four more that fall within the Top 200. LSU will have plenty of midfielders and backs to choose from and may only struggle with finding a dynamic front runner. Michelle Makasini, Kathleen Walsh and Rachel Yepez will all try to earn that role as each is among the Region 3 ODP team pool. In fact, nine signees have been among the Region 3 pool players in the last year and Chelsea Potts of Illinois is a Region 2 player. All-state honoree Potts led Eclipse Select to two national crowns. Defenders Nikki Bush (Mississippi United), Rachel Hartman (Dallas Texans Red), Amanda Carreno (Tulsa SC) and Brittany Lowe (Houston Challenge) all helped their club teams to state titles as Hartman joined with Makasini and Katherine Lagow in guiding the North Texas ODP state team to the ODP National semifinals. Peachtree City Lazer midfielder Malorie Rutledge heads to LSU with four club state titles to her credit and in-state signee Kennedy Richards notched all-state honors three times in her prep career. Tennessee transfer Casey Crawford gives this class a solid dozen members covering eight states.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
Unlike most of the other top leagues, no schools are consistently dominating recruiting in the SEC. Auburn and Florida have each had Top 40 classes for at least the last four years. Vanderbilt didn't keep pace this time with last year's excellent class, but that's due largely to a small class in 2006. Kentucky and Mississippi State were again at the bottom of the league in recruiting but both classes were solid enough to earn regoinal marks.
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| Southern |
1. UNC Greensboro
2. Furman
3. Elon
4. Charleston |
5. Western Carolina
6. Davidson
7. Appalachian St
8. Georgia Southern |
No Reports:
Chattanooga
Citadel
Wofford |
GREENSBORO FINDS GOLD IN NORTH CAROLINA
The Spartans not only signed exclusively in their home state, but Coach Radwanski strayed no more than two hours in finding all five of his rookies. All five have appeared in national club or odp semifinals while playing for two of the best club teams in North Carolina. Forward Kim Keener returns to her home state after a year at the IMG Academy in Florida. Keener is a HS and Youth All-American who has been part of the US U-16 team pool. Leigh Riordon and Jen Bronson are Region 3 pool players who along with fellow signee Kelly Attayek, led their CASL Spartan squad to a USYS national semifinal appearance. Those four signees earned All-State honors at the prep level. The final newcomer is defender Lauren Lopez who, along with Keener, helped her NC ODP state team to the ODP Nationals in 2003. This is the fifth straight year UNCG's class has been regionally ranked and among the top two in the Southern Conference.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
For just the second time, three conference teams rank among the nation's Top 100 in recruiting. UNC Greensboro is rolling and Furman is still bringing up some of the top talent each year. Charleston is ranked among the region's best for the fourth straight year and Elon brought in its best class ever. On the downside, Georgia Southern is not changing directions with their signees and although The Citadel has not reported its group, all signs point to more struggling for the Bulldogs.
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| Southland |
1. Texas-San Antonio
2. Stephen F Austin
3. Northwestern St
4. Texas State |
5. McNeese State
6. Sam Houston St
7. SE Louisiana
8. Nicholls State |
No Report:
Central Arkansas |
YES, CINDERELLA HAS A BALL AT UTSA
It's not often a brand new program can upstage other teams, but Texas-San Antonio has done just that with its first recruiting class. With 23 signees, it's hard to not have enough on that list to outdo schools with just 7-8 recruits. We'll admit to succumbing to the masses, but UTSA's class is also plenty talented. Every player, save two Californians, hails from Texas. Two transfers were key in JC All-American keeper Rachel Francis and All-SWAC forward Christine Walker of Jackson State. Four recruits-Chelsea Zimmerman, Kari Weiland, Chrsity Underwood and Erin Ussery, have played with the North Texas ODP state team. Zimmerman and Ussery come out of the strong Dallas Sting club program which also sends Veronica Najera, Kimberly Selman and Katilyn Symons to San Antonio. Five Dallas Texans club players head to UTSA as the Roadrunners get 17 players who were All-District performers in Texas high schools. Julie Kopp and Holli McGue are the lone out-of-state signees. Both play with the MTV Roadrunners which won two recent Super Y North American championships.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
Stephen F Austin may have registered behind UTSA in this year's rankings, but the SFA group is strong and follows a great class signed in 2005. SE Louisiana didn't find the recruits to move from the bottom two in the league but Nicholls State appears glued to that spot with the level of newcomers that have come aboard the last two years.
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| Sun Belt |
1. Florida Atlantic
2. Middle Tenn St
3. North Texas
4. W Kentucky |
5. Denver
6. La-Monroe
7. South Alabama
8. Arkansas-LR |
9. Arkansas St
10. La-Lafayette
11. Troy
N/A Florida Int |
A THREE WAY TIE? FAU WINS OUT
This is no regular season game so no ties allowed. In a three-way deadheat, league newcomer FAU gets the nod for best class in the Sun Belt. The state of Florida proved lucky for FAU which got five great preps in-state. Aleisha Peterson, Nicole Farrell and Kendall Kravec all earned all-state honors in the Sunshine State. Peterson played with the Hillsborough County club team and will be joined by two of her club teammates, Jayne Wabeke and Tessa McGarrity. From club Challenge in Houston, Sonia Richards heads to FAU and brings her experience on the South Texas ODP state team with her. Devon Romak is a solid defender out of Canada and the London Gryphons club. Notre Dame transfer Jannica Tjeder may be as big a signee as any if her injury days are over as the Finnish midfielder once played with her youth national teams.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
MTSU has had two great back-to-back classes. North Texas keeps plucking some of the best talent in Texas. But it's Western Kentucky that is sneaking in with two solid years of recruiting which should allow the Hilltoppers to move near the top of the league. Our bottom pick has Troy missing the bullseye for the second year in a row.
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| SWAC |
Not enough information from schools to provide analysis |
THEY DO PLAY SOCCER
It's hard not to be cynical when year in and year out the SWAC schools not only release almost nothing about recruits, the schools lag way behind in in-season reporting and promotion. Saying the sport is still new in the league is no longer a viable excuse when an NCAA automatic bid goes out to the champion of this league. Kudos to Mississippi Valley State who not only was a surprise champion of the SWAC in 2005, but was the lone school to release information on its recruits. With just three signees, the Devilettes did well enough to keep the spirit of the 2005 championship running. Theresa Cayot, Mikael Mendez and Rebecca Waugh all come from the Dallas-Ft Worth area and played with either the DFW Tornadoes or Tejanos in club play. Mendez and Waugh were both All-District first team honorees multiple times in their prep careers.
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| United Soccer |
1. Utah Valley St
2. North Dakota St
3. South Dakota St
4. Francis Marion* |
5. Longwood
6. Howard
7. Delaware St |
No Reports:
IPFW
NJIT*
South Carolina St |
WOLVERINES MAKE QUICK WORK OF RECRUITING
It's fitting that a league in just its second year of existence and one that continues to undergo major membership changes, has a #1 recruiting ranking for a program that signed a new head coach literally on recruit signing day. Not sure where the credit goes but Coach Anderson held together a large class of newcomers at Utah Valley State that could signal good things for years to come. With one exception, the rookies at UVSC hail from the west coast. Transfers could make a big impression as defender Taryn Nicolaides was a starter at Air Force and defender Natalee Davis was a JC All-American at Dixie State. Brooke Blaser and Kasey Turley played together at Centennial HS in Nevada and with the Tabagators, leading both to prep and club state titles while also playing with the Nevada ODP state team. Utah all-state players Adrienne Schneider and Katie Beeton will strengthen the Wolverines' midfield. Kara Adams (TN), Natalie Hatfield (ID) and Athena Bradshaw (MT) each earned all-state recognition in high school with Adams earning Scholar All-American honors. Californian Capri Stevens is one of five forwards in this year's class which hopes to improve on last year's goal differential, as UVSC's opponents posted more goals despite 30 from the Wolverines.
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Who's Hot, Who's Not:
In their short time in D1, North Dakota State and South Dakota State are both recruiting nicely and will move quickly to the top of this league before their schools find permanent conference affiliation. Delaware State is still looking for its first ever win over a D1 school. The latest class of newcomers aren't a big improvement but for the first time, the school has gone outside the Delaware Valley region for several rookies and that could help spice things up for this program.
*NJIT and Francis Marion are likely to join the United Soccer Conference this summer pending some legislative rulings in the Peachbelt Conference (FMU's main conference as only golf and soccer are D1 sports at FMU)
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| WAC |
1. Nevada
2. Fresno State
3. Hawaii
4. San Jose State |
5. Idaho
6. Utah State
7. Louisiana Tech
8. Boise State |
IS IT THE FOUR TOPS? NEVADA EKES OUT A TOP RANKING
The final placement of recruiting classes in 2006 looks very familiar to last year's WAC recruiting rankings. Nevada wins out again but this time just barely earning a nod ahead of both Fresno State and Hawaii. Hawaii's three-person class left the Rainbows below Fresno and Nevada who had numbers in their signings this year. Coach Patraw has learned well that California delivers and two of her top recruits, Jennifer Clark and Devin Noe, hail from the Southern Cal United program. Carly Wood was named Class Player of Year in Nevada and Whitney Gilson won prep and club state titles in Washington. But it is transfers that put Nevada ahead of all others again. The Wolf Pack may get immediate help with the additions of Karen Zmirak, Kenishia Warren and Myisha Gray. Gray was a JC All-American at Phoenix College while Australian Warren earned regional honors at NAIA's Brescia University. Two years ago, Zmirak, another Canadian landing at a US school, led the Georgia Bulldogs in scoring. Her abilities up top could help Nevada's record-producing offense from 2005 that doubled the school mark for goals scored in a season.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
This league was packed at the top in the final standings of 2005 as the top six schools finished within a game of first. The tight recruiting signals no change in the war that will take place this fall. Boise State, who was in that mix, didn't hit a home run with recruiting this year. La Tech is still building its new program but Idaho is the one program that is missing on a chance to catch up with others.
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| West Coast |
1. Santa Clara
2. Portland
3. Pepperdine
4. Loyola Marymount |
5. San Diego
6. Gonzaga
7. San Francisco
8. St Mary's |
FINISHING FIRST NEVER GETS OLD FOR BRONCOS
Make it two in a row in the WCC, four straight years in the Top 4 in the west region and five times in the last seven years on top of the conference and you can see that Coach Smith has a serious knack for recruiting. This set is as special as any with four US Youth National team players among the list. Kiki Bosio and Alexa Orand should both factor into an offense that got some serious reworking last season. Orand has been an NSCAA Youth National Player of the Year and was the Golden Boot winner in leading her Slammers to the National Championship in 2002. Bosio joined with Jenna Belcher, a US U-17 player, in guiding Laguna Hills Eclipse to two national titles. Belcher and Orand have both been part of Cal South state teams that won national crowns in odp play. A fourth national team member is Lindsey Johnson of Arizona who helped Sereno to the national semifinals. The Washington HS State MVP for Class 1A-B, Katherine Reynolds is an offensive addition from the Region 4 ODP team. Rounding out the Broncos stellar class is local defender Elizabeth Moul, who earned solid recognition in Super Y League play with the Santa Clara Scorchers.
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| Who's Hot, Who's Not:
Portland again hauls in top-notch recruits while Pepperdine signs its best class ever and Loyola Marymount snares a crop that is perhaps the second-best in school history. San Francisco continues to lag behind other league schools but St Mary's may have slipped the most this year with a coaching change just weeks before signing date.
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