Nine Players Commit To Milwaukee Women's Soccer
MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Feb. 7, 2008) - Eight high school seniors have signed National Letters of Intent to attend the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and join the women's soccer program, head coach Michael Moynihan announced today. Makenzie Gillaspie of Omaha, Neb., Sarah Hagen of Appleton, Wis., Laurel Ragalie of Kenosha, Wis., Keara Thompson of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Mary Wandolowski of Aurora, Ill., Chelsea Colling of Appleton, Wis., Chelsea Frye of Waverly, Iowa, and Lindsay Boeckman of Fort Dodge, Iowa, will all join the Panthers in 2008. Samantha Jo Vovos of Middleton, Wis., brought the recruiting class to nine as she signed an Intent to Enroll form announcing her intention to attend UWM in the fall and play soccer. "Once again we are excited to have put together a top-level recruiting class. We have signed some impact players," Moynihan said. "While we are excited about the talent, I think we are most excited about how this class will compliment our current team. All of these women are also great people and have their priorities in line with the direction and ambition of our program. "On the field we add depth to some positions, speed to others and vision and composure to others. We continue to attract some of Wisconsin's top talent, but we have also attracted top players from the region and internationally as well. The ability to attract talent from all of these places will make us stronger and deeper as we continue to move the UWM Women's Soccer program forward." Gillaspie, a 5-foot-8 central midfielder, is preparing for her senior season at Elkhorn High School in Elkhorn, Neb. She helped her team to a state championship last season, garnering all-state first-team honors for herself. She is a three-time all-state honoree, team most valuable player and was twice named to the All-Omaha Area team. Gillaspie has tallied 31 goals and 30 assists in her first three seasons while also helping her team to 18 shutouts in 2007.
"Kenzie is central midfielder that brings tremendous versatility," Moynihan said. "She is fantastic in the air and has a strong assertive attacking presence, yet she is very athletic and can defend as well. She will play somewhere centrally for us and I expect her impact to be immediate." Hagen is a 5-foot-11 midfielder/forward out of Appleton North High School. She is coming off a junior season that saw her tally a team-best 21 goals and earn Appleton Post-Crecent Female Soccer Athlete of the Year honors. She scored 33 goals as a sophomore, helping her squad to the state semifinals. She has been named to all-state honorable mention in both seasons she's played, while also earning all-area and all-conference honors. "I love Sarah's composure," Moynihan said. "She has a great sense for the game. She is tall and strong and is able to hold the ball extremely well. She is also tremendous in the air and strikes the ball very well. Sarah will immediately give us a different type of attacking presence that we have not had in years. She will be an excellent compliment to our other attacking players and she will give our attack a different dimension." A 5-foot-7 forward, Ragalie was a two-time all-state honoree for Kenosha Bradford High School, earning a first-team nod as a junior last season. She has been an all-conference and all-county first-team member in each of her first three seasons of prep soccer. She was named to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel All-Area First Team and to the NSCAA All-Region Team in 2007. Ragalie has tallied 81 goals in her career, including 25 game-winners, and 32 assists in her first three seasons. "Laurel is a very dynamic attacking player," Moynihan said. "She has great speed and has a nose for the goal. We have had some excellent attacking players over the years but it has been a while since we've had a prolific goal scorer. Laurel has the ability to become that very quickly." Thompson is a three-year member of the Canada U-20 National Team pool, as well as a member of the Alberta Provincial Team. A 5-foot-2 midfielder, she was a three-year starter and three-time Female Athlete of the Year at Bishop Carroll High School. "We came across Keara a bit late in the recruiting process but we couldn't be more thrilled about adding her to the program," Moynihan said. "She is a little energizer who covers a lot of ground and links beautifully with other players. She's always around the ball and she just doesn't make mistakes with it. She is fantastic at reading the game and she has a shot from distance that is as dangerous as anyone is our program's recent history. Her experience with the National Training Center will also be a great asset and it will allow her to contribute immediately." Wandolowski is a 5-foot-3 midfielder/forward out of Batavia High School. She has lettered as a freshman and junior but missed her sophomore season with a knee injury. In her two active years, she was an all-conference, all-sectional and all-area first team honoree. She has also helped the Bulldogs to a 33-7-3 record in two seasons with 34 combined goals. "Mary is another playmaker," Moynihan said. "She likes to have the ball at her feet, has good vision and has a good sense for distribution. Unlike a lot of playmakers, though, Mary also has a ball-winning mentality and aggressiveness. She is very good in the air for her size and can play a number of positions." Colling comes to Milwaukee from an Appleton Xavier High School program that has won conference, sectional and regional championships in each of the last three seasons. As a freshman, she helped the Hawks to a state title, scoring game-winners in the semifinal and championship matches. Colling has led her team in scoring and been named all-conference in each of the last two years. "Chelsea is another one that emerged late in our recruiting process," Moynihan said. "She is a phenomenal athlete that just started competing with an elite-level club team. She is lightning quick and has wonderful instincts for making runs off the ball. She is adjusting very quickly to the level of play with her club and, at the rate she is going, she stands a great chance of contributing for us right away." Vovos is a two-time all-conference first-team forward from Middleton High School. She has helped the Cardinal to a state championship in 2006 as well as regional and sectional titles in 2005 and 2007. On that state championship team, she tallied 17 goals on the year, including six game-winners, while helping the squad to a 21-0-4 record. A 5-foot-6 forward, Frye is a three-time all-state player from Waverly-Shell Rock High School. She is coming off a junior campaign where she tallied 39 goals and 14 assists, giving her 92 career goals and 34 assists heading into her final season. Frye has helped her team to a 54-7 record in three seasons and the state tournament each year. The Go-Hawks finished second at state in 2006 and third in 2005. "Chelsea (Frye) and Sammy (Vovos) are similar in many ways," Moynihan said. "Both are very strong, dynamic and aggressive attacking players. Most of their experience is at the forward position, but they both play with an aggressive edge which will allow them to play a variety of positions. Both have been great goal-scorers with their respective clubs and high school teams, and that attacking mentality will give us more options and hopefully allow us to attack from more positions." Boeckman is a 5-foot-10 goalkeeper at Fort Dodge Senior High School. She is a three-year letterwinner and was named all-conference in each of her last two seasons. As a junior in 2007, she started 14 games and posted a .920 save percentage (126 saves/137 shots). "Lindsay is a solid goalkeeper who will add depth to the position for us," Moynihan said. "She is a gifted athlete that is very driven and hungry to learn and compete. Her dedication is rather remarkable. From a small town in Iowa she has shown unbelievable commitment to prepare herself for Division I college soccer. She regularly drives several hours from her home in Iowa just to attend training sessions. That kind of hunger to play is infectious and we are eager to bring her into our program and work with her." |
