By Jill Saftel, News Staff
The women’s soccer team has lost Veronica Napoli – the university’s all-time leading scorer – with 2012’s graduating class, but the incoming recruiting class brings record setters and championship winners alike.
“I think they’re a very talented class and they’ll add a lot of depth to this team, and continue to add personality,” head coach Tracey Leone said. “They’re a hardworking group both on the field and off the field in the classroom. They’re the perfect class at the perfect time for us.”
The eight-member recruiting class for the 2012 season includes four forwards, two midfielders, one defender and a goalkeeper. They replace a graduating class made up of Napoli, her fellow forward Stefanie Raiola, midfielder Kirby Anderson, and defenders Laura Holmstedt, Georgina Kemp and Kelly Matthews. Last year’s team went 9-10-2 overall in the 2011 season and advanced to the CAA semifinals, where they were knocked off by Virginia Commonwealth University.
Leone said she’s the most excited by the incoming players’ character and work ethic, something she said she thinks will define this group of players.
The Huskies’ newest forwards are Taylor Tharp and Breanna Koemans, both from California, Shayna Blackwood from New Jersey and Emily Nasuti from Massachusetts. Tharp earned All-League first team honors all three years at Willow Glen High School. She also won five championships playing with the Central Valley Flames club squad.
Her future teammate Koemans, a forward on a club team that rose to the ESPN Rise No. 1 National ranking in March and December of 2011, scored 53 goals and notched 153 points, the second-highest point total in Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy history.
“Briana Koemans is just an unbelievable playmaker,” Leone said. “She can create opportunities and score, so she’s kind of like a double threat. She’s certainly got some real special qualities.”
At The Pingry School, Blackwood garnered First Team All-Conference honors in her junior and senior seasons, and All-Section honors as a senior. In the 2011 season, Blackwood’s team went 21-1-1 and won the state finals in New Jersey.
The last of the forwards, Nasuti, attended Millbury Memorial High School, where she set school records with 92 goals and 35 assists, and contributed to Millbury’s victory in three Southern Worcester County League (SWCL) championships. She was selected as a member of the SWCL All-Star team three times, and also earned two All-State selections. Nasuti was a three-time member of the Massachusetts Olympic Development Program and earned a Top Drawer Soccer Top 20 Northeast ranking.
The two incoming midfielders, Morgan Hilby and Alyssa Wilson, come to Northeastern from Manhattan Beach and Washington state.
Hilby earned First team All-League honors and was named First team All-League MVP as a senior at Vistamar High School. She set the school’s record with 34 goals and 13 assists her senior year.
At Woodinville High School, Wilson earned second team All-Conference honors twice. Wilson also played with the Crossfire Premiere G93 A team, where she was a member of five championship squads.
Joining the Northeastern backfield will be Oskana Nichols, one of the four recruits coming to Boston from California. Nichols won a league championship during her freshman year at St. Lucy’s Priory High School, and a defensive MVP award her junior year.
“Oskana is an unbelievable defender,” Leone said. “I’m so excited to insert her with the players that we have.”
Incoming goaltender Bailey Bruckmann was a captain her senior season at St. Mary’s High School, where she played four years of varsity soccer. Bruckmann was named the Catholic Central League MVP her senior season, in addition to receiving a Boston Globe All-Scholastic honor.
“They’re definitely a versatile class,” Leone said. “There are quite a few of them that can play in multiple places, so it’ll be interesting to see how it fits in and meshes with the team.”
