Lamar adds eight soccer commitments during signing period

[NickKBTV]

BEAUMONT , Texas – Lamar head women’s soccer coach Dewi Hardman has announced the addition of eight student-athletes who have agreed to play for the Lady Cardinals beginning this fall.

Anneliese Dernehl, Angie Guillory, Laura Hicks, Stefanie Miroballi, Danielle Pierce, Kylie Robinett, Ashley Smith and Amber Thornhill make up Lamar’s 2010 recruiting class.

The group consists of five Houston-area players, two from North Texas and the Dallas-area, and one standout from Australia. Hardman has added two goalkeepers, two defenders and four players who can play in the middle or up front.

Dernehl is a defender from Sugar Land who prepped at Lamar Consolidated. The multi-sport athlete has been a First Team All-District 45-4A selection in soccer and volleyball.

“Anneliese is a multi-talented athlete who we are looking at playing as a defender,” Hardman said. “She played for the Eclipse Club out of Houston.”

Guillory is a forward out of Magnolia West High School who was the District 40-4A Offensive Player of the Year.

“Angie has very good pace and great size and has been the leading goal scorer for many of the teams she has played on,” Hardman said. “She is going to be very dynamic within our group and can pose a lot of threats to the teams we face.”

Hicks is a 5-foot-10 midfielder out of Mayde Creek HS in Houston who has been an all-region selection by the Texas Association of Soccer Coaches.

“Laura has great pace and has developed really well over the last two years,” Hardman said. “She has a great upside and is improving daily. She will add a lot of size to our attack.”

Miroballi played both midfielder and defender at Houston’s Clear Lake HS, where the Falcons went 22-1-4 a year ago, while compiling a 14-0 district record en route to an appearance in the Class 5A state semifinals.

“Stefanie played her club soccer for the Albion Hurricanes and is a very gifted athlete who understands the game very well,” Hardman said. “She plays the game effectively and is very tenacious.”

Pearce is a speedy forward from Sydney, Australia who has competed at the state level in both soccer and track & field.

“Danielle is an extremely gifted athlete who can play outside midfielder or forward for us but offers great diversity because of her athleticism,” Hardman said.

Robinett is out of Rockwall Heath HS and is one of two goalkeepers who are joining the team. She is in her fourth year at RHHS and is currently a member of the Sting Royal ‘93 Girls soccer club.

“Kylie is a very athletic goalkeeper who will give us some solid depth in goal,” Hardman said.

Smith, who attends Central HS in Keller, is the other goalkeeper in the group. She was one of four players to sign with various Southland Conference schools. She also competes at the premier level of club soccer with the DFW Tornadoes, and she is a Mirabeau Scholarship recipient, who will give the program four of the 60 on campus. 

“Ashley is a very good goalkeeper who is very well coached,” Hardman said “Both she and Kylie will do good jobs in pushing Jennifer (Gibbs) to continue to get better. We want them to push for a starting spot, because competition is a great driving force.”

Thornhill is a defender from Katy Morton Ranch who was an ODP South Texas State Team, Region III camp attendee and Pool player.

“Amber reads the game very well and tactically is very astute,” Hardman said. “She is a good leader who communicates well and has a great throw-in that can be a big weapon to our attack.”

As a whole, Hardman said he accomplished what he set out to do during the recruiting process.

“We needed to accomplish three things,” he said. “We needed to play deeper, because we played a number of games shorthanded last year. The need for 17 to 18 quality, healthy players was paramount. We didn’t want just any depth, but quality depth with good size and pace.

“Down the road we think there are some from this group who will be standout performers and will contribute to the program. We recruited eight Texas-based players and have been able to forge good relationships with all of the clubs in the Houston and Dallas areas.”

[bullets13]

Dewi's club background is going to continue to pay dividends as this team improves.  If Lamar can keep him, i except the girls' soccer team to be one of Lamar's marquee programs within the next five years.