The SEC Champion Texas A&M soccer team wrapped up its 2014 signing class on Wednesday with the signing of McKayla Paulson.
Paulson, a native of Mansfield, Texas, joins three early enrollees who arrived in College Station in January. Mikaela Harvey of Liberty Hill, Stephanie Malherbe of Temecula, Calif., and Haley Pounds of The Woodlands began classes on January 13 and have been taking part in individual workouts and strength & conditioning sessions as members of the squad.
"2014 is a really exciting year, starting with today in February," head coach G Guerrieri said. "Each of these young ladies is special and among the most talented players in the USA. Collectively they can help our championship caliber program move toward achieving our lofty team goals in 2014 and beyond.”
The Aggies pride themselves on the fluidity of their system, but the four newcomers will have positions placed by their names for the sake of rosters. Paulson is expected to challenge for playing time early as a defender. Harvey is penciled in as a midfielder. Pounds is slated to start her career as a forward. Malherbe will see early action as a forward and midfielder.
“We love the versatility of this class,” Guerrieri said. “All of these girls can compete anywhere on the field. We think the short fall of a lot of programs is that the coach only sees the game in one way and has his or her system. They try to put whatever shape peg the kids are into those holes. I give a lot of our credit to Associate Head Coach Phil Stephenson who has done such a great job in recruiting this class, as did Lori Stephenson. Phil does a great job of developing these players and helping them to understand that our system is about them.
“It's a player's game. We want the game to be fun and we want them to play with passion. The best way to do that is to find the system each year that fits the personalities and the way the girls play. All of these players are versatile and experienced enough in their youth careers, so we know they can handle whatever system we put in. We also know they haven't come close peaking on their game, so they'll thrive with each new challenge.”
| 2014 Aggie Soccer Signing Class | |||||
| Player | Position | Height | Hometown | High School | Club Team |
| Mikaela Harvey | MF | 5-3 | Liberty Hill, Texas | Hendrickson HS | Lonestar SC |
| Stephanie Malherbe | F/MF | 5-7 | Temecula, Calif. | Great Oak HS | SoCal Blues |
| McKayla Paulson | D | 5-8 | Mansfield, Texas | Mansfield HS | Dallas Sting |
| Haley Pounds | F | 5-8 | Spring, Texas | The Woodlands Christian Academy | Challenge SC |
| Mikaela Harvey | ||||
| MF | 5-3 | Liberty Hill, Texas | Hendrickson HS | Lonestar SC |
“Miki is one of these players that we would argue that if she's not the best player in the country, she's one of the most elite level players in the country. She's not the biggest of players. She comes in a small package, but she is a real firecracker on the field. She's not only a great supplier of service, but she's a great scorer as well. A typical game for her with her Lonestars SC team would be to score a goal, assist on a couple of goals and she'd be kicked the whole game by the other team because they knew she was the best player on the field. She's had great coaching from Don Cameron and JD Cochran at Lonestars. I know are fans are going to embrace her as someone who is going to be really influential in our future success." ? -G Guerrieri |
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| Stephanie Malherbe | ||||
| F/MF | 5-7 | Temecula, Calif. | Great Oak HS | SoCal Blues |
“Stephanie is another great attacking player. She is someone that we think can play in six different positions for us. She's very good out wide. She can play up high as a lone striker if we needed her to. She's done a great job already in training since arriving on campus. Stephanie is a product of the SoCal Blues in Orange County. Coach Larry Draluck and the rest of the staff have done an awesome job of developing her into not only a great player, but from what we've seen so far, a very good teammate. Steph is someone that we think will be really special.”? -G Guerrieri |
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| McKayla Paulson | ||||
| D | 5-10 | Mansfield, Texas | Mansfield HS | Dallas Sting |
“McKayla comes from the Dallas Sting Club, one of the most celebrated clubs among all of the U.S. Clubs. She has had some wonderful coaches helping her develop along the way. She can play in any of the four spots along the backline and I think she will make an impact there early. She has good speed, she's tall and she has good skills. She's an excellent student, ranked in the top three in her high school class. " ? -G Guerrieri |
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| Haley Pounds | ||||
| F | 5-8 | Spring, Texas | The Woodlands Christian Academy | Challenge SC |
“The pipeline for Haley coming to A&M is not only Challenge SC, where the coaches Stuart Self, Pat O'Toole, Smitty (Dave Smith) and the rest of the staff there do wonders for her on the soccer side, but from her bloodline. She has pure Aggie blood running through her veins. She's a third-generation Aggie. Her grandfather actually has an endowed scholarship named after him. They are a first-class, wonderful Aggie family. Haley is another one of those players who, I don't think I would put her in goal, but I'd feel comfortable playing her anywhere else on the field. She might be our fastest player right now. She's right up there in the speed category with Shea Groom and Annie Kunz. She has incredible explosion. She's a proven goal scorer with a lot of national team experience. She had an opportunity to play at any of the top programs you can think of off the top of your head, so to have her come here is really special. And she's one the best kids you could ever be around. She's going to be a great role model for future Aggies.” ? -G Guerrieri |
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