College: Carolinas yield bumper crop

The Carolinas produced some of the best players in the South this year.

With all the success North Carolina, Duke, N.C. State and Clemson have had throughout the years, you might think the Carolinas, North and South, have always produced a wealth of young talent.

But then looking at the 1995 rosters of those four schools, you would find that only one — N.C. State, with six — had a significant local flavor. Perennial powerhouse UNC had four local products. Duke had one (backup goalkeeper Irene Fulp), and Clemson had none.

That changes in 1996, as UNC, Duke and Clemson all picked up stars in their own backyards.

“It goes in cycles a little bit,” said Florida coach Becky Burleigh, who is also an assistant coach for the Region III Olympic Development Program. “Georgia for a while had a bunch of players coming out.”

Players coming out of Georgia in recent years include Wake Forest’s Lisa Olinyk, Virginia’s Jennifer Rawlings and Florida’s Adrianne Moreira. Joining that list this year is the region’s top forward, Jennifer Crawford, from Lilburn, Ga., who’s going to Clemson.

“She’s very, very crafty,” said Burleigh. “She has deceptive speed, and a great change of pace, which makes her dangerous.”

But this year the cycle shifts to North and South Carolina, which produced five of the 11 players on the Soccer America Super 11 for Region III. Duke and UNC get two of the southern blue chips, and Clemson gets one, midfielder Beth Keller.

According to some of the region’s coaches, the Blue Devils got the best class out of the South, adding highly sought defender Liz Speights and midfielder Sherill Kester.

Speights, from Mt. Pleasant, S.C., is a converted forward with good marking ability. Her speed and attacking mentality should help bolster a backline losing seniors Deanna Kreidel and Missy Durham.

Kester, a High Point, N.C., product described by some as a “sleeper,” is dangerous out on the wing and should help a midfield losing seniors Cara Lyons and Katherine Remy.

“Her acceleration is unbelievable,” Clemson coach Tracey Leone said of Kester.

Leone won the recruiting battle for Keller, a tall central midfielder from Hilton Head, S.C., who’s strong defensively and is a good playmaker.

“She’s a dominant force in the middle of the field,” said Old Dominion coach Joe Pereira, who is the Region III ODP coach.

Lindsay Stoecker is another dominant central midfielder. The Raleigh, N.C., product is composed, strong on the ball and a good playmaker. She should provide depth to the UNC midfield, which had four new starters last fall.

The other UNC recruit, winger Raven McDonald (Benson, N.C.), didn’t draw as many rave reviews as Stoecker, but her speed, quickness and tremendous agility make her a definite attacking threat.

Not everyone came from the Carolinas, however. The top player in the region, Parade all-America Jennifer Streiffer, hails from Baton Rouge, La. The Notre Dame-bound Streiffer, a creative 1-v-1 artist, may make her mark as an attacking central midfielder or as a withdrawn forward.

by Soccer America associate editor Dean Caparaz

Soccer America’s Super 11 Recruits (Region III)