Some of the best high school soccer seniors in the U.S. officially committed to colleges today, the National Letter of Intent Day. Our Game caught up with two of the top recruits – Morgan Brian and Lauren Bohaboy.Morgan Brian, the number one recruit in the nation, signed with the University of Virginia. A member of the Ponte Vedra Soccer Club (Jacksonville, Florida), the 17-year-old midfielder was a member of the U.S. U-17 Women’s National Team and recently took part in her first U-20 USWNT camp in January.
“It’s an exciting day. It’s hard to wrap my head around to be honest,” Brian said via phone from Georgia. “It’s going to be awesome. It’s what I’ve been working for for so long.”
Brian, who currently plays at Frederica Academy in St. Simon’s, Georgia, originally committed to the University of Georgia, but when the school’s head coach stepped down, Brian chose Virginia.
“Virginia plays a nice style of soccer that I like to play,” said Brian, noting that the pressure of being the number one recruit in the nation won’t get to her. “I like to play soccer for fun. Once you think about pressure, it takes the fun away.”
At her Southern California high school this morning, Lauren Bohaboy signed a letter of intent to play for 2010 NCAA champions Notre Dame. The forward/midfielder from Mission Viejo, California plays club for the So Cal Blues. She is currently in the midst of her senior season at Santa Margarita Catholic High School (former home of Philadelphia Independence and USWNT forward Amy Rodriguez).
The top five recruits this year, according to Top Drawer Soccer, are (in order): Brian, Alexandra Doll (Bethesda SC) and Chioma Ubogagu (D’Feeters), who will both play for Stanford; Olivia Brannon (Michigan Jaguars), who’s headed to Virginia; and Bohaboy.
“This is a very exciting day. It’s such an amazing feeling. It was really special to finally make it official,” Bohaboy said via cell phone from Southern California. “I’m so excited. I can’t wait to get there and play for Notre Dame. It’s a dream come true. I knew from the minute I stepped on campus that it was where I wanted to go.”
Six of Bohaboy’s Santa Margarita Catholic High School teammates also signed letters of intent Wednesday, including Courtney Doud (Bucknell), Taylor Krebs (Boston University), MacKenzie Cochrane (Fresno State), Haley Guerrero (University of California Santa Barbara), Leigh Edwards (Texas A&M), and Emily Roth (Northern Arizona University). Santa Margarita’s Anastasia Gillen committed to Brown University (Ivy League schools do not offer scholarships, so there is no letter of intent to sign).