University of Massachusets Athletics
Minutewomen Soccer Welcomes Four
February 06, 2006 | Women's Soccer
Feb. 6, 2006
AMHERST, Mass. - University of Massachusetts head coach Jim Rudy announced this week the addition of four new members of the class of 2010. Three Bay Staters and one Tennessee native have signed National Letters of Intent to play at UMass, beginning in the fall of 2006.
"Although we lost six fine seniors, I am very pleased with the quality of our incoming class," said Rudy. "The class is one of the best we've had here at Massachusetts, and they meet many of our needs athletically. Our defense was very good last year, but we were soft in terms of scoring goals."
Cristina Adams hails from Braintree, Mass., where she is a student at Archbishop Williams High School. A 5'2" forward, Adams played with the Cape Cod Crusaders, and was the leading scorer for both her high school and club team, while earning league All-Star honors in high school.
"Cristina is a dynamic, skillful, strong goal scorer with the knack of being in the right place at the right time," said Rudy. "We recruited her to help us try to replace senior Adair Blyler."
Meghan Gould is a 5'9" midfielder from Danvers, Mass. (Bishop Fenwick High School, Boston Renegades). She earned NSCAA High School All-America honors in 2005, as well as 2004, 2005 All-State honors and was a 2005 Boston Globe first-team All-Scholastic honoree.
"Meghan has great feet and is very confident and efficient with the ball in distribution," said Rudy. "She gives us a strong, skillful central player to help offset the loss of senior captain Lindsey Bellini. She's a player that can dominate in the air as well, and reminds me of former U.S. National Team member Michelle Akers."
The final Massachusetts native is Sydney Stoll from Dedham. A 5'4" forward for Dedham High School and the state champion South Coast Scorpions, Stoll is the 2005 Boston Globe High School Division II Player of the Year. She was coached by former UMass All-American Erica Iverson and Iverson's husband, Paul Turner.
"'Syd' is one of the best one-on-one players I've ever seen come out of high school," said Rudy. "She runs forever, serves well and can certainly shoot."
Lauren Paul rounds out the group, coming from Hendersonville, Tenn. The 5'10" goalkeeper played at Pope John Paul II High School, as well as for the Diadora Impact 88 SC. She has earned All-State and All-County honors in high school, and will join current goalie Kristin Walker in the fall.
"Lauren is athletic and powerful with very good hands," said Rudy. "She gives is another good-sized keeper with an impressive presence in the penalty area. She will compete for the job and hopefully help us recover from the loss of senior Kristen Rutland."
"In (Cristina) Adams and (Sydney) Stoll, we feel that we have two creative front-runners who can take on, serve and score goals. With (Meghan) Gould, we gain a deeper lineup player who can score as well, and dominates in the air. And goalkeeping was a risky issue last season, as we basically leaned on one keeper. We feel that with (Lauren) Paul, we gain the obvious depth and playing time. I am very impressed with this incoming class."
