There is a feeling within the Penn women's soccer program that this season could turn out to be something quite special. Judging by the team's 2004 schedule and the new recruiting class which coach Darren Ambrose and his staff just announced, this feeling just might be right.
The six members of the Class of 2008 come from five states -- one each from Colorado, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Arizona, and two from California. The ladies represent a diversity that is not only geographic, but also positional as they combine to cover nearly all the positions on the field.
"They are all very good players," Ambrose said. "By freshman or sophomore year, they are all going to play a role in the team."
The player with the least distance to travel is Ashley Hull, a defender from Carlisle, Pa. She participated in the Eastern Pennsylvania Olympic Development Program, as well as the Region I ODP program and the ODP national team camp in 2000 and 2001.
Ashley Wallach, Alysha Hoven, and Jacqueline McNaughton come to Philadelphia from the other side of the country.
Wallach, a native of Tuscon, Ariz., led Catalina Foothills High School to the 2003 Arizona State Championship and was the 2004 All-Southern Arizona Player of the Year.
Hoven, from Camarillo,Calif., was also part of the ODP program at the local and regional levels in her high school career.
Both Hoven and Wallach will likely be used as attacking players.
McNaughton, a goalkeeper, is from El Macero, Calif, by way of the prestigious IMG Soccer Academy in Bradenton, Fla. According to Ambrose, she tore an anterior cruciate ligament playing for her club team in May and will sit out this coming season. But that does not necessarily make his starting goalkeeper choice easier, as senior Anna Halse and junior Jessica Keeley are expected to contest the position in preseason training.
Keeley has "really put herself in the running" for a starting spot, Ambrose said.
Rachel Fletcher, a versatile player whose sister April was a member of the swimming team and graduated from Penn in 2002, comes from Littleton, Colo., and played in the Colorado ODP and for the Colorado Rush.
Midfielder Jenna Mitby, a Madison, Wisc., native, was in the Region II ODP pool from 2002-04, and traveled to Europe with the Region II team in 2002.
According to Ambrose, she is the first recruit Penn has succeeded in attracting to Philadelphia from the Midwest.
"I think that if you look at every class I've recruited, they come from all corners," he said. "Ever year we've had ever area except the Midwest."
This year's class is also notable for some of the schools the players opted against in agreeing to play for the Red and Blue. According to the Penn Athletic Department's Web site, multiple players chose Penn over Columbia University, Georgetown University, Boston University, and traditional powerhouse University of California, Los Angeles.
Other schools on that list include Harvard University, Yale University, Stanford University, and the University of Florida, which has produced multiple members of the United States Women's National Team over the years.
"I think it shows that we've earned the respect, and Penn soccer's name is getting out there," Ambrose said. "While we're not considered a Top 20 team consistently, people know and players know that we can compete at that level."
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