Meet the Newcomers: Schilte-Brown Adds Nine for 2018
TAMPA (Feb. 8, 2018)
— Head coach
Denise Schilte-Brown announced nine newcomers for the 2018 roster, after adding two early enrollees in January.
The signing class includes four players from Florida, three from Canada and one from Georgia and Colorado. The new class comes in as five seniors leave the squad after leading the program to its first-ever American Athletic Conference Championship.
Read on to learn more about the 2018 signing class.
Hanna Chaja | Forward
Air Academy High School | Colorado Springs, Colo.
- 2017 Region IV ODP Camp and Championship
- Colorado ODP Pool Member, 2015-17
- Rush Select National Team Member, 2016 and 2017
- Rush Select U14 National ID Camp
- NHS all four years of high school
- Honor Roll all four years of high school
"Hanna is an accomplished player from one of the top club teams in the West Region, the Colorado Storm," said Schilte-Brown. "She has multiple years of Colorado ODP experience and is an excellent student. We believe we are getting a player that has flown under the radar a bit, and we're very excited to have an athlete and player with Hanna's qualities joining our program."
Olivia Cooke | Forward/Defender
- Markham, Ontario | Bill Brothers
- Ontario Soccer REX 2015
- Provincial Team 2015-17
- 2017 Provincial team co-captain
- Starter for the August 2017 Canada Games, earned a silver medal
- September 2017 & November 2017 National Excel Camp
- Ontario REX Supercentre, January 2018
"Olivia is one of our trio of incoming Canadian players that we have high expectations for," said Schilte-Brown. "She is a driven and fierce competitor that has continued to set goals, and achieve them from one year to the next. Olivia is an excellent athlete that can play multiple positions and was recently rewarded for her efforts by being invited to a U17 Canadian National Team Camp. We are really looking forward to her arrival on campus and integrating her strengths into our current program."
Emma Davies | Forward
St. Catherines, Ontario | Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School
- Canadian national champion, 2014
- Ontario Cup Champion 2014
- Ontario Cup finalist, 2015
- Team Ontario, 2015-17
- Canadian National Champion U18, 2016
- Canada Games finalist, 2017
"We feel very fortunate to have Emma joining our program. Emma was someone we identified very early on in the recruiting process. She is as competitive as they come and has a nose for the goal. We feel we are getting one of the better attacking players in Canada, and we love her gritty style of play. She has represented Team Ontario multiple times at Canada Games during her career and has played a majority of her club career at one of the more decorated teams in Canada, Salt Fleet Stoney Creek Soccer Club, coached by Paul Giannini."
Sydney Martinez | Goalkeeper
Springfield, Ga. | Effingham County High School
- 2013-2017 Olympic Development State Team
- 2016 Girls High School Soccer Region Player of the Year
- 2016, 2017 MVP for high school varsity soccer
- 2016, 2017 high school soccer all-region team
- 2016-2017 Jacksonville Armada ECNL U18
- 2017 Georgia Coaches Association All-Star
- 2017 Junior year: played 900 minutes in goal with 117 saves and seven shutouts
- 2017 Southeast ECNL Champions
- 2017 third-place finish at Nationals
- 2017 Region III Olympic Development Team
- 2017 Region III Brazil trip
- 2018 Varsity team captain
"Sydney has a tremendous upside and we are lucky to have her as a USF Bull," said Schilte-Brown. "The goalkeeper position is such a specialized position and when you find one that checks all the boxes you consider yourself very fortunate. Sydney checks all the boxes and her time with Jacksonville Armada and their coaching staff these past two years has only elevated her game due to the increased competition level and expectations. We feel that she is prepared to come in and compete right from the start."
Sydny Nasello | Forward / Midfielder
Land O' Lakes, Fla. | Land O' Lakes High School
- Player of Year, 2016
- All-State, 2017
- Captain senior year
- All-Tampa three years
- All-Conference three year
- Offensive Player of year for three years
- U18 USWNT invite, 2017
- Selected Best 11 for ECNL, 2017
- Florida state champion, 2016 and 2017.
"Sydny is an amazing talent," said Schilte-Brown. "She is arguably the most creative attacking player to come out of the state in quite some time. She has the proven ability to score goals as well as set up her teammates, which is evident from her 115 goals and 56 assists in just 89 career games for Land O'Lakes HS to date. Her recent inclusion in the U.S. U18 National Team is a credit to both her hard work and all of the quality coaching and support that she has received during her club career at Tampa Bay United. We are tremendously excited to get her here on campus and continue her development at the next level."
Mia Palango | Defender
Hamilton, Ontario | St. Mary Catholic Secondary School
- OFSSA Provincial Championship quarterfinalist (2015)
- OFSSA Game MVP
- Team captain and team heart and soul award
- Team OYSL Provinical and National Champions
"Mia is another product of the Salt Fleet Stoney Creek Soccer Club, coached by Paul Giannini," said Schilte-Brown. "As one of the top multi-sport athletes at Hamilton's St. Mary Catholic Secondary School, Mia excelled in soccer, basketball, volleyball and track. We are grateful to be adding such a quality young talent to our program's gifted backline. We look forward furthering the foundation of her development at the next level."
Autumn Woodard | Forward / Defender
Orange Park, Fla. | Ridgeview High School
- Four-year varsity player
- Team captain senior year
- MVF (Most Valuable Forward) all 4 years
- Freshman year: 32 goals and 4 assists
- Sophomore year: 20 goals and 5 assists
- Junior year: 28 goals and 10 assists
- Senior year: 22 goals and 7 assists
- Total goals and assists in high school: 102 goals and 26 assists
"Autumn possess all the important qualities that we look for in our attacking players. She is strong, fast and competitive. In addition, she has had little trouble finding the back of net in her storied career at Ridgeview High School, scoring over 100 goals to date. She has received excellent guidance from her current club coaching staff at United Soccer Alliance. We look forward to getting Autumn to USF, so that she can continue her scoring ways."
EARLY ENROLLEES
Camryn "Camie" Lizardi | Defender
Bradenton, Fla. | Braden River High School
- Braden River High School varsity soccer team (4-year letter)
- Goals and assists leader for BRHS varsity soccer sophomore and junior years
- HT Preps All-Area high school soccer team
- Puerto Rico U20 Women's National Team
- Top Drawer Soccer Top 25 Southeast Regional player
- ODP Region III FL State Team
- Honor Roll
- National Honor Society
"Camryn is someone that we believe has only begun to scratch the surface on her abilities, said Schilte-Brown. "She is a fearless defender who has gained recent valuable international experience with the U20 Puerto Rican National Team. She received quality coaching through her time with the West Florida Flames, and we believe that her early arrival at USF this Spring will pay large dividends in her development."
Hannah Telleysh | Midfielder
Orlando, Fla. | Lake Nona High School
- All-Metro 2015-2016 Soccer
- All-District 2015-2016 Soccer
- All-District 2016-2017 Soccer
- IMG Top 150 2018 Class, 2015-2018
- ODP Interregional (Region 3), 2014-2015
- First-Team All-Florida, 2014-2016
- Selected/Attended Costa Rica Florida Team, 2015
- ECNL Nationals, 2015-2016
- Orlando Pride Development Academy, 2017-2018
- Select/Attended PUMA Classic, 2015-2016
- ECNL National Nike ID Camp, 2016-2017
- OCYS ECNL, 2014-2017
- ODP Final 4 Championship Team Florida, 2016-2017
"Hannah is a unique talent in that she is capable of playing multiple positions at a high level," said Schilte-Brown. "Her size makes her a weapon on set pieces. She is ultra-competitive, a student of the game, and received excellent coaching while playing for Orlando City and we are excited to have her get a jump start at USF this Spring."
About USF Women's Soccer
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The USF women's soccer team has posted six consecutive seasons of 10-plus wins and eight in the last nine years under head coach Denise Schilte-Brown. The Bulls made their first NCAA tournament appearance in 2010 and returned in 2014, 2015 and 2017.
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