Contact: Greg Murphy
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland State head women's soccer coach Derrek Falor has announced the signing of five high school student-athletes to National Letters of Intent. Falor made the announcement on Wednesday (Feb. 6).
Signing with the Vikings are Megan Barrick (Gahanna, Ohio), Sierra Davis (South Park, Pa.), Sarah Kaiser (Erie, Pa.), Kaila Sargema (Northridge, Calif.) and Marissa Sarsfield (Springdale, Pa.).
In addition, Grace Condit (Springboro, Ohio) and Taylor Stroh (Upper Arlington, Ohio) have accepted an offer of admission to CSU.
"Our goal with the 2013 class as a whole was to bring together a group of players who would be immediate impact players as soon as they stepped onto our campus," Falor said. "We feel like our program is at the point where what we most wanted to achieve out of this class are players who live for the big games and are capable of creating impact moments when games are on the line.
"The goal was to bring in championship level competitors. Without hesitation, I feel like we have signed a great group that is diverse in their skills, physically elite, and bolsters every position on the roster. This is an extremely talented group that we are very proud to call Vikings."
Barrick was a four-year letterwinner at Gahanna Lincoln H.S., helping the squad to conference and league championships her junior season. Barrick, who served as team captain her senior season, played center back her first three years before moving up to center-mid as a senior.
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Davis was a three-year starter in goal at South Park H.S., missing her senior season after an injury during the spring of 2012. In her three years in goal, Davis posted a 62-7-5 record, including 52 shutouts. She allowed just 34 goals in her three years, helping her squad to three straight sectional titles and three appearances in the state semifinals. A team captain as a junior and senior, Davis was named to the all-section and All-WPIAL teams as a sophomore and junior and was an all-state honoree as a junior.
Kaiser was one of the most explosive offensive players in Pennsylvania over the last four years, finishing her career as the all-time leader in goals (105) and assists (74) at Mercyhurst Prep. The District 10 Player of the Year as a senior, Kaiser was a four-time first team all-region pick and three-time all-district selection. She was an all-state honoree as a senior after tallying 32 goals and 28 assists, helping the squad to the state semifinals. She led the team to a 22-0-3 record and state title as a sophomore.
Sargema earned three letters at Canyon Country H.S., earning Rookie of the Year honors as a freshman. She was an all-league pick as a sophomore and junior when she led the team in scoring and was also the Offensive MVP.
Sarsfield lettered four years as a defender at Springdale H.S., helping the squad to a state runner-up finish her freshman and senior year. The squad also made an appearance in the state semifinals her sophomore season. As a senior, Sarsfield was selected to the all-section and all-league teams.
Condit lettered all four years and was a first team all-league and second team all-south Dayton as a senior, helping the team to a 15-3 mark and the league title. She was a second team all-league and third team all-south Dayton as a junior.
Stroh earned two letters and was part of a team that won the league championship and advanced to regional finals her freshman year. In addition, she helped the team to the district title and regional semifinals as a sophomore.
Following are complete bios on each of the seven newcomers.
Megan Barrick
5-8, Fr., Midfield
Gahanna, Ohio (Gahanna Lincoln)
COACH FALOR'S COMMENTS
Megan is a rock in the middle. We see her primarily playing holding mid for us and possibly some center back at times, as she handles the challenges of each position very well. The thing that has always stood out to us about Megan is her composure. No matter how fast things seem to moving around her, she always plays with a level head. She is absolutely great defensively sitting in front of the back four. She is very solid in the air, extremely strong and is always clean on the ball. She is a player who plays her best when the games mean the most.
HIGH SCHOOL
Lettered all four years (2009-12)... started at center back her first three years before moving up to center mid her final season... helped team to 15 wins and conference and district titles her junior year... served as team captain as a senior.
PERSONAL
Born Feb. 20, 1995 in Westerville, Ohio... daughter of Jeff and Diane Barrick... has two brothers... older brother, Tommy, was an All-American soccer player at Northern Kentucky... business marketing major.
Sierra Davis
5-7, Fr., Goalkeeper
South Park, Pa. (South Park)
COACH FALOR'S COMMENTS
"We weren't initially looking to add a keeper to this class but every time I saw Sierra's team play I came away very impressed with her ability to alter the course of a training session or game. The energy that Sierra projects outwards from her box is amazing. She is super aggressive coming off her line, a really strong communicator, has good lateral coverage of the goal, and explodes to collect shots. She plays in such a way that she energizes her team with everything she does. While she will have to learn how to correctly apply those traits at this level, she is a good student of the game and brings a high level of motivation both on and off the field so we feel confident that she will be ready come August."
HIGH SCHOOL
Three-year starter in goal at South Park H.S... missed senior season after suffering knee injury in spring... went 62-7-5 in her career with 52 shutouts... allowed just 34 goals over three seasons... led team to three sectional titles and three straight appearances in state semifinals... team captain as a junior and senior... all-section and All-WPIAL honoree as a sophomore and junior... all-state selection her junior season.
PERSONAL
Born Oct. 18, 1994, in South Park, Pa... daughter of Jim Davis and Denise Sonson... business marketing major.
Sarah Kaiser
5-7, Fr., Forward
Erie, Pa. (Mercyhurst Prep)
COACH FALOR'S COMMENTS
"Sarah is that special kind of forward who always finds a way to score. She has just got that instinct in the box to find a way to slip the ball past the keeper in a way that we've not had on our team ever. What we like most about her is that she plays very well in a 2 forward system like we prefer to use. She targets well in that she can fend off defenders and be patient in finding the best mid to link with. She can hold a ball confidently in traffic and doesn't seem to get flustered with tight marking and physical plays. While she doesn't have sprinter speed, she understands how to create and use space very well and puts herself in the right place at the right time. And technically, there isn't a shot she can't put on frame whether finishing a cross or creating for herself. We are looking forward to how much more dangerous she should make us in the final third."
HIGH SCHOOL
Four-year letterwinner who helped Mercyhurst Prep to a combined 74-13-4 record in her four years... concluded career as all-time leader in goals (105) and assists (74) in program history... earned all-state honors and was District 10 Player of the Year as a senior, finishing year with 32 goals and 28 assists and helping team to state semifinals... four-time all-region pick and three-time all-district honoree.. helped team to a 22-0-3 mark and state championship as a sophomore.
PERSONAL
Born April 4, 1994, in Erie, Pa... daughter of Vitus and Brenda Kaiser... has one brother and two sisters... older sister, Samantha, played three years of soccer at Duquesne and one season at Edinboro... graphic design major.
Kaila Sargema
5-8, Fr., Forward
Canyon Country, Calif. (Canyon Country)
COACH FALOR'S COMMENTS
"With Kaila we feel that we are adding an attacking wide player with great speed, a player who can confidently go one vs. one, and a player who is a quality finisher all wrapped up in one person. She's also a very sound passer when need be and can strike crosses with both feet. She is the kind of player that we feel can play up top if needed but will help to make us much harder to defend when we can find her out wide in space. We didn't have nearly enough dangerous wide players this past season that made other teams adjust to us and with Kaila, we feel like we've done a lot to help solve that issue going into 2013. All in all, we are looking for Kaila to provide a jolt of energy and speed to our flank play."
HIGH SCHOOL
Earned three letters as a forward... was top goal scorer and team offensive MVP as a sophomore and junior... selected to all-league team as a sophomore and junior... was named Rookie of the Year as a freshman... finished high school career with 30 goals.
PERSONAL
Born January 19, 1995, in Northridge, Calif... daughter of Greg and Pam Sargema... has one sister... criminology major.
Marissa Sarsfield
5-8, Fr., Defender
Springdale, Pa. (Springdale)
COACH FALOR'S COMMENTS
"In our maturation as a program, one of the key elements we strive to find are defenders who are tough as nails in keeping the ball out of the net and comfortable with the ball at their feet. She is definitely both of those things. Marissa is certainly a center back through and through but she's also more than capable of handling the responsibilities of initiating our attack. The first thing that she brings to the field is first and foremost a physical defensive presence. She's great at zonal defending work and communicating with her back line. We also will be looking for her to help switch the point of attack once we win the ball. Marissa is a very upbeat positive player with a tremendous work rate who readily accepts the responsibility of anchoring a back line."
HIGH SCHOOL
Lettered four years as a defender, helping team to state semifinals three times and a pair of state runner-up finishes... all-section and all-league pick as a senior... selected to compete in the WPIAL All Star game as a senior.
PERSONAL
Born April 7, 1995, in Springdale, Pa... daughter of JP and Carol Sarsfield... has one sister, Alexa, who plays soccer at Robert Morris... father played football at Washington & Jefferson... chemical engineering major.
Grace Condit
5-2, Fr., Defender
Springboro, Ohio (Springboro)
COACH FALOR'S COMMENTS
"We really like Grace's fire and intensity as she will fit very well into our defensive group. She's a quick learner and very coachable and always plays with a high intensity. Her game has been steadily improving over the last couple of years as she has been working hard to develop her game on both sides of the ball. Grace is quick and feisty and a quality 1 vs 1 defender so she will fit in nicely as a wing defender who can join the attack."
HIGH SCHOOL
Lettered all four years... first team all-league and second team all-south Dayton as a senior... was a second team all-league and third team all-south Dayton as a junior... helped team to a 15-3 mark and the league title in 2012.
PERSONAL
Born Jan. 20, 1995, in Springboro, Ohio... daughter of John and Chris Condit... has one brother and three sisters... communications major.
Taylor Stroh
5-7, Fr., Midfield
Upper Arlington, Ohio (Upper Arlington)
COACH FALOR'S COMMENTS
"Taylor is the type of versatile player we love to have in our midfield. She's very confident on the ball given how much time she has spent playing central mid. And while she can certainly play well centrally, our goal is to use her more out on the wing where she can attack the opponent's flanks. She has good speed and crossing ability which will make her a dangerous option for us in the final third. We love her ability to run at defenders and link with the forwards as this is definitely something we need to get much better at doing. We really feel she will be a solid addition to our midfield group."
HIGH SCHOOL
Earned two letters... part of team that won league championship and advanced to regional finals her freshman year... helped team to district title and regional semifinals as a sophomore.
PERSONAL
Born October 27, 1994, in Columbus, Ohio... daughter of Dave and Deb Stroh... has one brother and one sister... business major.