Local soccer pipeline sprouts far, wide

During the 31st minute of Friday night's women's college soccer season opener, one of the Rebels crossed the ball into the 18-yard box at the far end of Peter Johann Memorial Field, where another Rebel hit it square off her head and past the Northern Arizona 'keeper, creating a bulge in the ol' onion bag, as that Irish soccer commentator on ESPN likes to say.

Ivan Farris, whose picture and that of his teammates on the 1985 UNLV Hall of Fame men's soccer team that went 18-2-2 greets fans at the gate - he's the one not looking at the camera - was sitting beyond the end line at the opposite end under a bright yellow barbecue banner.

"Wow!" said the former Rebels center back, halting a conversation in midsentence to admire the craftsmanship of this goal that put UNLV ahead 2-0. "What a way to start your college career."

The soccer ball had been headed into the net by No. 17, a freshman midfielder named Addy Guida. I had to squint to make out her jersey number from a distance, but Farris immediately knew who it was - Guida (Coronado High) had played for him with Las Vegas Premier '94 since she was 4.

He had watched her grow up; she had helped him win five state soccer titles in the past seven years on the summer youth circuit.

Farris was asked how many times had he seen Guida use her head like that.

"Never," he said.

Farris said you don't see young girls head the ball into the net often because headers require players to jump high, and young girls can't jump as high as young boys. Plus, it takes a certain amount of courage - sometimes when you try to hit a soccer ball into the net with your head, and miss, you hit it with your face.

The Northern Arizona goalie beaten by Guida's header was Natalie Gilbertson (Centennial), who also played for Farris and Premier '94. So did NAU's Haley Wingender (Bishop Gorman) and Alexia Gonzalez (Liberty). And Cassidy McLean (Green Valley) and Sarah Pate (Coronado) and Syrina Lopez (Silverado), who are nursing knee injuries and did not play.

So did Sila Tuiofea (Palo Verde), who scored twice in Gonzaga's 3-1 victory over South Dakota on Friday. And Gabriella Rainoldi (Bishop Manogue, Reno), a defender at Syracuse. And Kylie Kircher (Bishop Gorman), a midfielder at Louisiana-Monroe. And Angelika Pawlowski (Bishop Gorman), a goalie at Cawtaba (N.C.) College recently named to Poland's Under-19 national team.

All are freshmen.

"Fourteen from this team went to play (in college) somewhere," Farris said.

When I was young, I read library books during summer, thinking it might help me get to college.

Dr. Seuss will only get you so far. The Cat in the (Red) Hat to whom I was speaking, combined with an 1800 or so on your SATs, will get you noticed by college soccer coaches.

"Yeah, I'm pretty proud to have that many get to the next level," Farris said. "But I miss my kids. They're college girls now, but to me they will always be 10-year-olds or 13-year-olds."

NAU coach Andre Luciano, a former goalie at Chaparral and one of the leaders of the Indiana side that lost to Santa Clara in the championship game of the 1991 NCAA College Cup, can't wait until they are 20- and 21-year-olds - and also can't wait to see what the Las Vegas youth programs will turn out next.

"It's a pipeline we want to keep open," Luciano said about making his hometown the Lumberjacks' out-of-state recruiting base.

In addition to Luciano and the six NAU freshmen and Guida, six other Rebels who played high school soccer in Las Vegas were listed in the program - goalie Kylie Wassell (Bonanza), midfielder Amanda Kaufman (Bishop Gorman), midfielder/forward Susie Bernal (Clark), defender Faith Johannes (Centennial), midfielder Julie Owens (Centennial) and defender/midfielder Erika Hanuscin (Green Valley). And so it would appear Michael Coll, UNLV's first-year coach, will continue to pursue local talent as well.

It was Owens who took the corner kick setting up Guida's header in the 31st minute for the final goal.

After the 90th minute plus stoppage time, Wingender, who created a couple of nice scoring chances for herself in the second half, said she had not heard of Flagstaff, Ariz., before deciding to play soccer there. Gilbertson, the goalie who was peppered with 15 shots and was first among the locals to sign with NAU, said Flagstaff is beautiful.

I thought about warning her about January and February, and elevation of 7,000 feet, and scraping ice off windshields. But college should be a learning experience, should it not?

And then I had to walk all the way back to Wilson Stadium, because so many people had come to watch these local kids play college soccer that there was no place left to park at Johann Field.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski.