CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - Adding a handful members to it's 2023-24 roster, the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi soccer program announced its recent additions Tuesday afternoon.
"We have been very meticulous with this recruiting class to add only special players that give us different things we needed to make a great squad even better," said head coach
Craig Shaw. "We've added SLC championship winning experience, top 10 national JUCO program experience, 4 year DI experience, size and speed in areas we didn't have it and overall these ladies are competitive and want to come here to win a championship over everything else."
Faith Adams joins the Island as a midfielder after transferring in from Northwestern State over the offseason. She's a native of Granbury, Texas where she attended Maypearl High School. Adams was a part of the Demons' 2021 Southland Conference Championship team where she won the game-winning-goal.
"Faith is a player that I have liked since her club playing days. She has arrived this spring and has already made an impact with her competitiveness, work ethic and possession style of soccer. Having won an SLC regular season championship and scoring the winner in the 2021 SLC Tournament Championship she brings the "Championship Mentality" we are striving towards."
A native of Lakewood, Colorado, Emmie Barton will be a freshman with the Islanders in the fall of 2023. She attended Green Mountain High School where she played as a defender and played for the Colorado Rush 05 DPL team. Barton was a part of the Presidents Cup 2022 Regional Championship Team and the Colorado State Cup Championship team.
"Emmie has a huge competitive streak that will thrive in the college environment. As with all our defenders we brought in this signing class she can play any where across the backline allowing us great flexibility. She is strong in a tackle and can dribble with the ball with such confidence, athleticism, and skill."
Looking to begin her junior season with A&M-Corpus Christi, Paige Coghill is transferring in from Monroe College after also playing at Faulkner University. Her travels bring her in from Colorado Springs, Colorado where she attended Pine Creek High School. As a defender, she was named to the Dean's List and President's Honors List in fall 2022 for Faulker University. Coghill earned recognition on the All-Freshman Team at Faulkner University.
"Paige is a lock down defender and will be an amazing addition who has the speed and 1 v 1 defending abilities to shut down any forward in the conference. She attracted interest from all the top DI programs in the nation after spending the last 2 years at a TOP 10 Nationally ranked junior college program."
Olivia Hughes, "Liv", is a native of Summerville, South Carolina where she attended Ashley Ridge High before playing at Wofford College in 2019. She comes into the Islanders' program as a graduate student defender. Shea earned All-State honors, ECNL Player of the Year and Prep Sports Player of the Year. While at Wofford, she was named to the 2020-21 SoCon All-Freshman Team, Academic Honor Roll four times, All-Academic Team twice while garnering Dean's List recognition six times.
"Liv is going to bring amazing experience to our program coming in as a graduate student with 2 years of eligibility after an amazing DI soccer career at Wofford. She is a hard nose, no nonsense defender that will be able to diffuse those physical type forwards from being able to bully our backline. She turned down nationally ranked DI programs as she sees how close we are to winning a championship here."
Genevive Lillard joins the Islanders as a native of Corpus Christi, Texas where she attended Tuloso Midway High School. She plays defender and played at IMG Academy for her club team. She was a part of teams that played at the 2023 Florida State Cup, 2022 ESPN National Pro Event, 2022 Girls Doubles State Championships and 2021 Region ODP Pool Four.
"What impresses me most with Gene is her commitment to her growth as a soccer player and her determination to be the best she can be. Not many people are brave or committed enough to leave home and go to boarding school with the whole purpose of becoming a better soccer player. She has grown immensely over the past year at IMG and is great to have a local player on our squad again."
Moving east from San Diego, California is Faith Perry, a future freshman who played at Olympian High School as an Eagle as a goalkeeper. She was named the best goalie in Mesa League for high school soccer and plans to major in Kinesiology.
"We are so very excited to get a goalkeeper of her standard and experience. Faith is a tall and very athletic goalkeeper with great hands and presence who has played the very highest of standards of ECNL in the Southwest Region. I expect her to be in the mix from day one with what is already a strong goal keeping unit."
Cariana Pou comes to A&M-Corpus Christi from Pembroke Pines, Florida where shy attended Pembroke Pines Charter High School. The defender plans to study Journalim/Communications at the Island University. She was nominated her junior and senior years to the All-County Game and was a part of the District and Regionals Championship team in the 2021-22 season.
"Cari brings speed, technical ability and size to our backline where she can fit in any position and I am excited to see her develop into a top conference defender. To have all 3 of these attributes will help her to make an impact her freshman year. If she listens and learns from Coach Hunter and the other experienced defenders she is going to have a fantastic college career."
Taylor Thibodeau is a defender from Midlothian, Texas where she went to Midlothian High School as a Panther. She made and was a starter for the Texas Spurs WPSL team as a sophomore in high school. She was named to the District 14-5A First-Team as both a sophomore and junior. Thibodeau intends to study marketing during her time in Corpus Christi.
"I think Tay has the potential to play in midfield or defense as she has the amazing qualities of not only being a physical presence but having the composure and technical ability to play the passing style we play here. Making summer WPSL teams since her sophomore year shows her potential but also her commitment to always striving to become a better player and not taking summers off."
Ashley Wilson will graduate from Klein High School where she plays in the midfield. The Houston, Texas native plans to be a nursing major while on the Island. She played on the Challenge Soccer Club while in the offseason.
"Ashley brings a skill set that we do not have in our midfield right now. She has great ability to run at players drawing them in then dishing off the pass or beating them 1 v 1. She might look small but she plays like she's 6 foot and can close down people in a flash. We were excited to beat all the local Houston area DIs to her signature."
A native of Chula Vista, California, Vanessa Wimbish played at Eastlake High School and will graduate in spring 2023 as a Titan. While on the field, she earned three varsity letters in soccer and one in cross country. She played in the Super Y League Finals in Brandenton Florida in 2018 and CIF D1 Soccer Final as they took on Torrey Pines in the 2021-22 season.
"'V' is one of the top midfielders in the nation and can play both sides of the ball as a great ball winner defensively and a creative force in attack. As a 2
nd team All Conference player in the hardest ECNL conference in the nation she brings strength, aerial ability, composure on the ball, creativity and extensive passing range that is going to frustrate and scare opposing midfields."
Signees
Faith Adams - 5-5, Granbury, Texas/Northwestern St.
Emmie Barton - 5-9, Lakewood, Colorado/CO Rush DPL
Paige Coghill - 5-8, Colorado Springs, Colorado/Monroe College
Olivia Hughes - 5-9, Summerville, South Carolina/Wofford College
Genevive Lillard - 5-5, Corpus Christi, Texas/IMG Academy
Faith Perry - 5-10, San Diego, California/Rebels ECNL
Cariana Pou - 5-11, Pembroke Pines, Florida/Florida United DPL
Taylor Thibodeau - 6-0, Midlothian, Texas/Solar ECRL
Ashley Wilson, 5-1, Houston, Texas/Challenge ECNL
Vanessa Wimbish, 5-7, Chula Vista, California/Rebels ECNL
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