By Matt Godfried in The Daily Athenaeum September 8, 2009
MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA, USA — The West Virginia women’s soccer program has laid down the groundwork for an unusual recruiting pipeline in the last five years.
With a 25-man roster that represents 11 different states, West Virginia head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown has organized a diverse group of women who have led the Mountaineers to a 2-1-2 record this season along with a No. 7 national ranking.
But it’s been the addition of WVU’s Canadian-born athletes that has really paid great dividends for the 14-year coach.
“You’re starting to see more Canadian players come into the States to play soccer because they don’t have anywhere else to go – they don’t have collegiate soccer,” Izzo-Brown said.
“It just makes a lot of sense for those athletes to continue their careers here because there aren’t a lot of other opportunities outside of the national level.”
The Mountaineers’ most recent additions from Canada include midfielder Caroline Szwed from Oakville, Ontario and forward Bry McCarthy from Ajax, Ontario.
Both freshmen have already solidified a spot in West Virginia’s starting lineup.
“Those two have come in and taken on a lot of responsibility as freshmen starters for this team,” said fellow Canadian Nicole Mailloux. “Bry is always at the top generating shots for us, and Caroline has done a great job managing the middle of the field.”
Mailloux, a senior defender out of Mississauga, Ontario, admits that few of her teammates can probably say her hometown correctly, let alone spell it.
But the standout defender can rest assured that most fans are quite familiar with her name.
The five-sport athlete out of Meadowvale High School was a prized recruit for Izzo-Brown entering the 2006 season.
Known primarily for her running ability, the former City of Mississaugua Athlete of the Year was often pressured into furthering her track career.
But soccer was always her first love.
“A lot of people always told me I should just run because I was so good at it, but I loved how team oriented soccer was,” Mailloux said.
“Eventually soccer got more serious through showcases and stuff, and I just kind of weeded out running.”
The Canadian pipeline, however, began a few years before Mailloux committed to the Mountaineers. In fact, it was the class of 2005 that built the framework for the trend to follow.
Three standout athletes joined West Virginia’s soccer program that year, including eventual All-Americans Amanda Cicchini and Deanna Everett.
Both came to Morgantown from Oakville, Ontario, while the third, Robin Rushton, traveled from Scarborough, Ontario.
In four years, the trio accomplished what few had done before.
Their resume included a 58-18-14 record, three Big East American Division titles, two All-American honours and four straight NCAA tournament appearances.
They also made the Elite 8 in the 2007 tournament.
“Obviously, you can look at both Amanda and Deanna and being All-Americans and all they’ve contributed to our program,” Izzo-Brown said. “They were just amazing. Then you have Robin Rushton, who was a four-year starter and a back captain for us. They brought a lot of leadership and success to our team.”
It was really the addition of Rushton that helped open the floodgates in Morgantown’s pipeline from Canada.
“We were at a tournament a few years back and were able to see a team out of the Toronto area play, and we noticed how good they were,” Izzo-Brown said. “In the ensuing years, we started to go up there more and more, and then we started recruiting Robin.
“Once she began playing with us, we got to know her mother, Stephanie Rushton, who had a connection with the national program up there. As a result, we were able to develop some relationships that helped us to learn about some great players.”
Izzo-Brown hopes the recruiting trend continues, which shouldn’t be a problem considering the success the program has had in recent years, which includes nine straight NCAA tournament appearances.
After all, she said it’s always a little easier to lure in the world’s best players with a proven track record of success.
“We are recruiting at a national scale because of the success this program has had,” Izzo-Brown said.
“We just want to bring in the best players from every area, and Canada has been a great contributor to us in recent years.”
