Coaches agree — Santa Clara has the best recruiting class in the country. Not that the Broncos, who reached the NCAA semifinals last December, are hurting for talent. They boast a bevy of talented young players, led by Mandy Clemens and Heather Aldama. But the incoming freshmen — featuring U.S. under-20 trio Aly Wagner, Danielle Slaton and Anna Kraus, along with Kerry Cathcart and goalkeeper Alice Gleason — could put Santa Clara over the top this year. “Santa Clara has hands down the best class,” Texas A&M coach G. Guerrieri said. “You can make a case for Wagner, Slaton and Kraus being the top three [recruits],” Notre Dame coach Chris Petrucelli added. “To me they’re the top three players in the country,” Nebraska coach John Walker said. Santa Clara coach Jerry Smith’s recruitment of the big three was made easier by the fact that they all play for San Jose, Calif., club Central Valley Mercury, which won the USYSA’s under-17 championship last year and the U-16 title two years ago. “We were so excited when we found out all three of us were going to Santa Clara,” Kraus said. “It wasn’t planned.” Wagner is the best of the bunch, despite tearing the ACL of her right knee as a sophomore at San Jose’s Presentation High School. An informal survey of coaches rated Wagner, who took about 17 months to fully recover from her injury, as the top recruit in the nation. North Carolina recruit Jena Kluegel and Wagner were tabbed as Parade magazine’s co-Players of the Year. Wagner walked away with the Gatorade Player of the Year award.

Wagner is a ‘prototype midfielder’

“Aly in my mind may be the best youth player that I’ve seen since I’ve been involved in [women’s soccer] now,” said Petrucelli, whose school along with Carolina were the other finalists in the Wagner sweepstakes. Wagner is a “prototype playmaker with the ability to score a lot of goals,” Smith says. The 5-6 central midfielder was the last of the big three to commit. She told Smith Nov. 14 while she watched a Santa Clara-Kansas men’s basketball game on television at Santa Clara with her future team. Besides admiring the school and her future teammates, Wagner says the possibility of being part of Santa Clara’s first NCAA championship team impacted her decision. “It would be awesome to go somewhere where they would win for the first time,” she said. “With the Mercury, it’s not as exciting anymore to win our sixth regional. I wanted to go somewhere and be at a different level, not necessarily be an underdog but not be the favorite either.”

Kraus was first to commit

The first player to commit was Kraus, a 5-4 midfielder from nearby Mountain View who gave Smith the word a couple of weeks after her visit in late September. Kraus said she wanted to stay close to home and in the end turned down Portland and Stanford. Smith says he doesn’t know where he will play Kraus, the most versatile player in his class. She could play in central defense or midfield, or even up front if needed. After Cathcart committed, Slaton came on board in early November. Like Cathcart, Slaton is a much-coveted left-sided player whom Smith says he could use in defense or midfield. Slaton also plays for Presentation with Wagner. “Ever since I was younger, we went to the Santa Clara games and watched them,” said Slaton, who also looked closely at Carolina. “I’ve been to the soccer camps there. I’ve grown up seeing the soccer, seeing the campus.” Gleason signed on last. If the Broncos had any weakness over the years, it’s been in goal, so the addition of the solid keeper, who plays for the Region II ODP team, is like icing on the cake for a team that was two goals away from reaching the ’97 championship. The Bronco blue-chippers “could possibly change the balance of power,” Walker said. “Notre Dame and North Carolina are still going to be strong, but Santa Clara is going to get better.” by Soccer America Associate Editor Dean Caparaz.