11 May 2021
By: Paulina Vairo
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The NCAA Women’s Division I season is coming to an end. With only four teams left in the NCAA Tournament, every team is already preparing for next season which will come by quickly in the Fall. Though some schools played in 2020, many schools only had games in 2021. The NCAA is where you can find the most talented women soccer players in the country. Several players from the current USWNT began their careers in college soccer, like Carli Lloyd, Kelley O’Hara, Crystal Dunn, and Allie Long. There were many players who stood out this season, but here is a list of six players who stood out for their teams who are lesser known in the nation.
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1. Hannah Friedrich-St. Louis University
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University of Central Arkansas Athletics
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One of the best unknown players in the nation is Hannah Friedrich from St Louis University. A Junior from St Louis Missouri majoring in Integrated Strategic Communication, Friedrich has been a huge contributor to the success for the Billikens this season. The Billikens play for the Atlantic 10 Conference where they were undefeated in league play with an 8-0 record, giving them a 15-1-1 record overall in 2021. They made their fourth ever appearance to the NCAA tournament after defeating Davidson in the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship, however loss in the first round in penalty kicks against the Washington Huskies.
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Friedrich finished the season with 4 goals and 14 assists, giving her the A-10 Championship's Most Outstanding Player, A-10 Offensive Player of the Year, and was name St Louis Billikens MVP. Though only scoring four goals in the season, she scored three wining goals, one which was against Davidson to secure their win for the A-10 Conference Championship. She started all 17 games in 2021 and she is tied for the most assists in the nation with Natalie Beckman from Denver. She leads the A-10 Conference with assists and St Louis as a team led the conference with average assists per game with 2.33 and goals per game with 2.3. With one year left in her college career, Friedrich will continue to be a huge part for the Billikens as she looks to make her senior year the best in her career and hopefully lead her team to repeat champions in the Fall.
2. Emma Hawkins-Central Arkansas State
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University of St. Louis Athletics
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Central Arkansas State is not known for their Women’s Soccer, not having any appearance in the NCAA tournament in their history so far. However, sophomore Emma Hawkins has become the face of the team this season and has contributed to every single win for the Sugar Bears in 2020-2021. Hawkins is from a small town of Forney Texas and is majoring in Exercise Science. She has already made All-Academic First Team with a 3.28 GPA in just her second year at Central Arkansas State. The Sugar Bears play for the Southland Conference, where they finished 10th in the conference with a 3-7-1 record. However, they finished the season with a winning record at 12-9-2.
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Hawkins finished the season with 14 goals and 2 assists. She is third in the nation in goals and first in the Southland Conference for the most goals. She scored five game winners and recorded a hattrick against Sam Houston back in March. Central Arkansas led the division with the most goals with 38 goals overall, despite finishing near the bottom of their conference. Hawkins landed on the Southland All Conference First Team for her steller performance for the Sugar Bears. With two seasons left in her college soccer career, Hawkins will continue to be a dangerous player in the Southland Conference and will continue to break records for the school’s program.
3. Itala Germelli-Dayton
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It is always tough for freshman to find playing time in their first year of college soccer. This was not the case for Itala Germelli, who started all games for the Flyers this season. From Rochester Michigan, Geremelli joined the team this year and became their top player during the 2021 season. The Flyers play for the Atlantic 10 Conference where they finished second in the A-10 West with a 4-4-1 record. The team finished with a winning record with a 7-6-1 record and made an appearance in the Atlantic 10 Conference, where they lost to St. Louis in the first round.
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Geremelli ended the season with 9 goals and one assist, making her third in the nation for the most goals as a freshman. She has three game winners and won Atlantic 10 Women's Soccer Rookie of the Year, First Team All-Conference forward, and All-Rookie Team all in her first season. She also maintained a 4.0 GPA and won the R.U.D.Y.S award, which is the University of Dayton’s award for recognition in excellence in both sports and academics. Only being her first season, Germelli will only get better and will certainly be a player to look out for in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
4. Tinaya Alexander- LSU
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LSU is mainly popular for their football team, especially after former LSU Joe Burrow was the number one pick in the NFL Draft in 2020. However, LSU does have a women’s soccer team, and Junior Tinaya Alexander from England has been the star of the team this season. Alexander will be graduating this year with a degree in Sports Administration after spending four year in LSU. The Tigers play for a tough SEC Conference, where they only finished 5th in the SEC West division. They finished with a 8-8-3 record between 2020-2021.
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Alexander had previous lived in England where she made appearance for the U-16 and U-17 England Women’s National Team. She finished with 9 goals and 3 assists with three game winners. She finished with the 3rd most goals in the SEC Conference and started in 13 games this season. This was Alexander’s breakout season, as she only had 3 goals in 2017 and recorded no goals in 2018 or 2019. She was named to the 2020 Fall SEC Academic Honor Roll and was named Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week on Nov. 18. Alexander had a great season to end her college soccer career as she finished as one of the top players in the SEC Conference and the top performing player for the Tigers this season.
5. Logan Dix-The Citadel
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The Citadel is one of the six senior military schools in the nation, located in Charleston South Carolina. Logan Dix from Tipp City Ohio has attended the Citadel for the last four seasons while playing soccer for the Bulldogs. Dix has been a huge part of the team for the last four seasons, though the team did not gain any success during her time with the team. The Bulldogs are part of the Southern Conference where they finished 9th this season, recording only one win and nine losses in the conference.
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Dix had a great individual season for the Bulldogs, recording 10 goals and 2 assists in 16 games. She had the most goals in the Southern Conference and the Bulldogs as a team finished third with overall goals with 23. Dix was robbed this season as she was not named to either the first or second All-Team Conference in the Southern Conference. Instead, her teammate Suzuka Yosue from Japan was name to the First Team All-Conference with 2 goals and 6 assists on the season. Dix is still honored for her academic success as she maintains a 4.0 GPA and a member of the Chi Alpha Sigma National Scholar-Athlete Society for The Citadel.
6. Ally Fordham- Mercer
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Ally Fordham has been overlooked by her teammate Kendal Cook this season, however Fordham has been a huge part for the Bears this season. A senior from El Cajon California, Fordham has played all her four seasons with the Bears and has always been the core to the team’s success. Mercer plays for the Southern Conference where they finished 4th with a 5-3 record. They made the Southern Conference Tournament but lost in the first round to Samford 6-1.
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Fordham had the second most goals in the conference with 9, five of those goals being game winners. Mercer had the most goals in conference overall with 19 while they only finished the season with an 8-10-1 record in 2020-2021. Fordham’s performance this season landed her on the 2020-2021 All SoCon Second team. She will end her college career on a high note by having a great career with the Bears and a positive ending to her season.
