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Feb. 4, 2004
CLEVELAND - Twelve high school student-athletes, seven of whom are from the Greater Cleveland area, comprise the inaugural signing class in the history of Cleveland State women's soccer. Head coach Derrek Falor made the announcement of the history-making class on Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 4).
Women's soccer will debut as a varsity sport at CSU on Friday, Aug. 27, 2004 with a home game against Kent State.
"I am ecstatic that we have been able to put together a recruiting class with the quality and depth that this group features," Falor said. "This day has been along time coming with a lot of hard work going into the search to find the right players with which to start our program.
"We were looking for a very special type of player for our first recruiting class," Falor added. "We needed to find players who were willing to be pioneers in women's soccer at CSU and start the program on a path towards success.
"Finding success won't necessarily be easy. These players will have to be able to play through the tough times and grow as players as the program grows with them. They won't benefit from having a group of upperclassmen to guide them so they will have to learn things as a team.
"Ten, 20 or 50 years from now, this group will be remembered by the players who will follow them as the group that made Viking women's soccer possible. It is a both a tremendous honor and responsibility."
The strength of the class is in goal. The duo of Allison Zajaros (Bay Village, OH) and Ashley Kidwell (Grove City, OH) gives CSU a pair of skilled and successful keepers.
"I wanted to make sure that we had depth at goalie because that position can make or break you," Falor said. "Allison is a proven winner who has a tremendous presence when she is on the field that helps the other players around her get better.
"Ashley is a real find. She is technically a very solid player who gets better and better the more she plays."
Although he did not originally intend to place such an emphasis on the midfield positions, Falor came away with a half-dozen players who will help to give the Vikings considerable depth and skill.
"As recruiting progressed, it seemed like every quality midfielder that we were looking at were interested in attending CSU and we decided to take advantage of it," Falor said. "It is a versatile group with several of them being capable of playing multiple positions. We now have a group that should help us control the ball and play the game at our tempo."
Leading the list of midfielders are Heather Clapacs (Willoughby Hills, OH/Willoughby South) and Madeline Singer (Ney, OH/Bryan), each of whom earned all-state honors last year. Clapacs set school records for career goals (58) and assists (42), tallying 13 goals with 20 assists as a senior. Singer earned third team all-state honors as both a junior and senior, finishing her career with 41 goals and 22 assists.
Nicole Homsher (Hilliard, OH/Davidson) and Jackie Pangle (Akron, OH/Firestone) round out the midfielders. Homsher showed considerable development over her two varsity seasons at Davidson, earning the team's offensive player of the year award as a senior, while Pangle was a four-year standout at Firestone, totalling 48 goals and 23 assists in her career.
Although only two true forwards were added, Falor is happy with the goal-scoring potential. Jennifer Wieand (Alden, NY) scored 101 goals with 43 assists during her career, including 42 goals as a senior, while Amber Rasmussen (North Bloomfield, OH/Bristol) tallied 139 career goals, including 42 as a senior.
"Jennifer and Amber put up some huge numbers during high school and although they didn't necessarily play at the highest of levels, they each have that scorer's mentality," Falor said. "They are used to scoring and know what to do with the ball when they get it in the final third. That is something that is very hard to teach."
Four players have been added on defense, giving Falor a corp group to work with. Shayna Back (North Olmsted, OH), Rachel Johnson (Medina, OH), Abbie Kakias (Mentor, OH) and Maggie Pugliese (Bay Village, OH) will give the Vikings a good start defensively.
"This is a unit that will continue to get better as they play together," Falor said. "They each have good technical skills and have a strong desire to win. It will be fun to watch them grow as a team."
Pugliese and Kakias will be used to anchor the defense with both coming from extremely successful high school teams. Pugliese started on a pair of Bay Village squads that won state titles while Kakias helped Mentor to a 14-1-1 mark as a senior.
