Wednesday’s national letter of intent signing day was an eventful one for UNM women’s soccer, adding 13 new potential players to their roster.
Future Lobos Brianna Rudolph, Madison Hirschman, Delaney Markham, Bella Starkweather, Kate Browning and Leilani Baker are all from New Mexico high schools.
The duo of Brianna Rudolph and Madison Hirschman finished their high school careers with Eldorado while Delaney Markham and Kate Browning played for rival school La Cueva. Bella Starkweather played for Hope Christian and Leilani Baker ended her high school career at Rio Rancho.
The heavy in-state recruitment demonstrates UNM head coach Heather Dyche’s faith in New Mexico youth soccer, which has produced many current and
“We’re excited that almost half of that class is local; it’s a really important thing that some of the best New Mexican players stay here,” Dyche said in a release.
Dyche said she coached all of the local signings at some point in their youth careers. Her involvement with youth soccer has allowed her to find players that best fit the mold of the UNM program.
The remaining signings—Victoria Arvizu, Cami Floth, Aspen Headrick, Jenna Killman, Alexa Kirton, Finna Maixner, and Malia Vanisi—are from six different states.
Victoria
Alexa Kirton is from Sammamish, Washington and played for Skyline high school, while Jenna Killman, also from Washington, played for Olympia high school. Aspen Headrick played for Columbine high school in Colorado and has been involved with both the Colorado and New Mexico ODP player pools.
“It’s a wide variety of kids but you have to have competition in the team, and I think these guys will come in and immediately challenge for positions which
The Lobos will lose seven seniors—Olivia Ferrier, Katie Hinman, Victoria Archuleta, Ruth Bruciaga, Brooke Webster, Maddie Irwin and Annie wheeler. The graduating group was integral to the 2016 season, and many of the new signings will hope to break into starting squad in the upcoming season.
Dyche also emphasized player growth, pointing out that new signings adjust to college soccer at different speeds.
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“There’s an enormous growth process between your senior year of high school to your freshman year of college,” Dyche said. “They leave home and they come to a new school and they get thrown into a really competitive environment daily, and some kids thrive in that and for some
The new and current players will hope to improve in next season’s campaign and qualify for the Mountain West Conference tournament, which the team narrowly missed out on in the 2016 season.
Matthieu
