College: SA Girls Region III Super-11 Recruits

Texas has been producing top-level women’s talent forever, it seems. You look at the U.S. national team and see Dallas native Carla Overbeck. Former U.S. player (and current Clemson coach) Tracey Leone is also from Dallas. SMU flourished in the early ’90s with homegrown strikers Lisa Cole and Kara Lee. Texas A&M’s rise to prominence has been driven mostly by Texans, including Bryn Blalack and Kristen Koop. And Texas is at it again. The Lone Star State has produced two of the best young players in the nation in strikers Meredith Florence and Monica Gonzales, who play for the same club, the Dallas Sting. The athletic Florence, who’s been compared to a young April Heinrichs, is going to North Carolina. Some college coaches say she is the best striker in the country, if not the best player. “Flat out the best goalscorer in the country this season,” said A&M coach G. Guerrieri, whose Aggies pick up three players on the Soccer America Super 11. A powerful attacking player, Florence will fill the UNC void left by Debbie Keller, who completed her eligibility in the NCAA final last December. Gonzales will undoubtedly face Florence several times throughout their college careers since she’s going to defending NCAA champion Notre Dame. Gonzales is more of a playmaker than Florence but can score when needed. She should fit right in with the Irish, who lose senior forward Amy VanLaecke. “She makes things happen,” Auburn coach Bill Wilkins said. Once in South Bend, Ind., Gonzales will team with another big-time recruit in Anne Makinen, who’s been training at the adidas Soccer Academy in Bradenton, Fla., the last few months but does not qualify for this region’s Super 11. That’s because Makinen is from Helsinki, Finland. She honed her game by playing with the Finnish national team, for which she has 40 caps and 10 goals. Though Finland is not an international power, she’s still a considerable talent and is pegged by many as 1997’s top overall recruit. The Irish will probably plug the tall, lanky Makinen right into central midfield in place of Hermann Trophy and MAC Award winner Cindy Daws, who’s thinking about playing in Japan’s L-League next year. The other finalists in the Makinen sweepstakes were UNC and Florida. Gators coach Becky Burleigh still compiled a formidable recruiting class headed by strikers Andrea Sellers and Jennifer Bransford and defender Renee Reynolds. Both Sellers and Bransford have tremendous speed. The former works as well running at defenders as playing with her back to the goal. Bransford can also play in the back, where she and Reynolds would help solidify a defense that was bounced out of the NCAA tournament by UNC 9-0. Texas A&M’s recruits should help improve a team that had a great 1996 regular season but suffered a disappointing first-round NCAA tournament loss to San Diego. Guerrieri gets a top-notch sweeper in Claire Elliott and strengthens the middle of the field with Heather Wiebe and Michelle Remington. Wiebe is a defensive ball-winner who’s good in the air, while Remington can either attack out of midfield, move up front or play as a withdrawn striker. by Soccer America Associate Editor Dean Caparaz

Soccer America’s Super 11 Recruits (Girls Region III)