2016 Women's Soccer Roster

FORT LAUDERDALE – Nova Southeastern University women's soccer head coach John Constable is pleased to announce the addition of 29 newcomers that will be joining the team for the upcoming 2016 fall season. The list of new players are detailed below:
 
Emma Heikkilä
Hometown: Tornio, Finland
Position: Midfielder/Striker
Height: 5-7  
Previous School: Tornion Yhteislyseon Lukio High School
Club team: Merilappi United
 
Constable on Heikkila: "Emma will do a great job here. She came to our attention after scoring a hat trick in a 3 -0 win for Finland against Northern Ireland U-19. Since then, we have had her on campus. She has trained with us, watched us play and has seen everything that NSU has to offer. Emma finished her last season as one of the top scorers in the best women's league in Finland.  We are confident she can be highly productive for us here at NSU in the attacking third of the field. Emma has good versatility and can play in a number of attacking positions. I do feel though she shall be most effective picking the ball up in central areas of the field. After an 18-month recruitment process that started back in Feb. 2015, we are very excited to see Emma play for the Sharks!"
 
Jessica Bonenclark
Hometown: Ocala, Fla.
Position: Center Defender/Center Midfield
Height: 5-8
Previous School: Belleview High School
Club Team: Florida Force
 
Constable on Bonenclark: "Jessica is equally strong at center back and holding center midfield. She is composed on the ball, passes well and is very good in the air. She also has great positional sense. On top of all that, she is a leader and she has captained Florida Force very well over the past couple of seasons. Jessica attended our 2015 ID camp and showed a tremendous amount of skill and talent. We are excited to have her with us."
 
Nichole Poppe
Hometown: Youngsville, N.C.
Position: Center forward
Height: 5-8
Previous School: University of Mount Olive/Gardner-Webb University
 
Constable on Poppe: "Nichole is a handful. She is a big strong, powerful center forward with an absolute rocket of a shot. As soon as I knew Nichole was available, we wanted to bring her here to NSU. I had coached against her at my previous institution and she was always very difficult to play against. She can hold the ball up, it is very hard to get the ball from her and she can go past players too. Plus, as all good strikers do, she scores goals. Nichole is another who brings good experience to the program and she arrives here as an All Southeast Region performer from Mount Olive. Nichole scored goals at Mount Olive and NCAA DI Gardner Webb. She will score goals here too. We expect Nichole to have a great final year in college soccer here at NSU."
 
Ida Norstrøm
Hometown: Oslo, Norway
Position: Goalkeeper
Height: 5-9
Previous School: Bjerke Videregående Skole High School
Club Team: Grei Kvinner Elite FK
 
Constable on Norstrom: "Ida is the best U-19 keeper in Norway and we are delighted to have her with us. She has played in many big games for both club and country, has good presence, height and size. She comes in feeling sharp having played at the Euros this summer. Ida has good distribution skills both with her hands and feet and in general is an all-round solid keeper. This summer, she played the full 90 in a 1-0 win for her country against France U-19 (current European Champions). Having performed admirably at that level, we are quietly confident she can do a fine job for us at the conference, regional and national level."
 
Jessica O'Connor
Hometown: Branford, Conn.
Position: Outside Back
Height: 5-3
Previous School: Branford High School
Club Team: Girls Can
 
Constable on O'Connor: "I first watched Jessica play in California in 2014 and I have kept tabs on her ever since. She is a quick outside back. She is a good 1v1 defender and rarely gets beat. If she does, then she typically has the speed to recover. Jessica attended our ID camp in the summer of 2015 and showed all the same qualities I had seen in California months earlier. She is a good defender with pace that keeps possession when her team has the ball. We are excited to see what she can bring to the program over the next four years."
 
Myriah Troutman
Hometown: Reading, Pa.
Position: Forward/Outside Mid/Outside Back
Height: 5-5
Previous School: Wilson High School
Club Team: FC Revolution
 
Constable on Troutman: "Myriah attended our summer ID camp in 2015 and showed fantastic speed. She was running away from players as if they weren't there and scored an incredible amount of goals for her team. Myriah is an athlete that can finish and there is always a place on our program for this type of player.  We are excited to see Myriah contribute to our progression over the next few years."
 
Sini Laaksonen
Hometown: Masku, Finland
Position: Central midfield
Height: 5-11
Previous School: Kerttulin Lukio High School
Club team: TPS
 
Constable on Laaksonen: "Sini is a big, strong, aggressive, and super athletic central midfielder. She currently plays every minute for TPS who are near the top of the table in the best women's league in Finland. Sini has started and excelled in many games for her country at various age groups. She also started games and scored an absolute wonder goal at the U-20 World Cup. She is comfortable in possession, can dominate games and opposing players in the middle of the park and is capable of hitting a fantastic shot. In addition to this, she is a leader. I wouldn't think too many central midfielders will enjoy playing against Sini this upcoming season."
 
Jessica Bendetti
Hometown: West Islip, N.Y.
Position: Center Midfield
Hometown: 5-4
Previous School: West Islip High School
Club Team: HBC Strikers 97/98
 
Constable on Bendetti: "Jessica came to our ID camp a few months ago and showed up well. She is an athletic center midfielder that is full of energy. She passes and moves well and is composed on the ball. She comes from a very good club full of high level players and the team she has started for over the past few years has been rather successful. We are confident she will do a good job for us over the course of her four years here."
 
Chloe Hoffman
Hometown: West End, N.C.
Position: Outside mid/Outside back/Center Mid
Height: 5-8
Previous School: The O'Neal School
Club: Triangle United Soccer
 
Constable on Hoffman: "Chloe can play in a number of positions and can play them well. She can play outside mid, outside back and holding center mid. This type of versatility will be an asset to us. She has played on very successful club teams in addition to being in the ODP region camp. She is another who is comfortable on the ball with good awareness and passing ability. She also has good height and presence, which can be useful in what is a rather physically demanding Sunshine State Conference."
 
Tova Nilsson
Hometown: Veberod, Sweden
Position: Central Midfield
Height: 5-5
Previous School: Söderportsgymnasiet High School
Club team: Södra Sandby IF
 
Constable on Nilsson: "Tova is another athletic central midfielder that we have added. She has a good change of pace and can go past players in the middle area of the field. Tova started games for a Sweden U-17 team that two years later went on to win the Euro's at U-19. Many players from that team speak very highly of her. She also got some minutes in the top league in Sweden while still in high school which is certainly not the norm. We feel Tova can have a major impact for us here at NSU. She has been exposed to a very high level of soccer over the past few years which we feel can make the transition pretty smooth to the Sunshine State Conference."
 
Raquel Rodriguez 
Hometown: St. Charles, Mo.
Position: Outside back/Center Midfield
Height: 5-4
Previous School: St. Dominic High School 
Club Team: Tony Glavin Soccer Club 
 
Constable on Rodriguez: "Raquel is a good player. She is incredibly composed on the ball and rarely gives the ball away. She is another who attended our ID camp in 2015. She constantly won the ball and passed it effectively for her team. At no point does she look flustered when in possession of the ball regardless of how much pressure she is under. Raquel proved to be a very good defender at our ID camp and plays at a good level of soccer back in her home state. We are excited to have her join the team."
 
Hannah Christophe
Hometown: Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Position: Striker
Height: 5-3
Previous School: Bramalea Secondary School
Club Team: Mapola Academy
 
Constable on Christophe: "Hannah is a goal scorer. Throughout her career she has not only been her team's top scorer but almost always, she has been one of the top scorers in the league. I first watched Hannah play at the Umbro Showcase in the summer of 2015. She scored numerous goals at the tournament and if she wasn't scoring, she was always very close. Hannah's main strength is her explosiveness and ability to break away from players due to her turn of speed over both short and long distances. She is unbelievably quick and allied with that, she is incredibly strong and powerful. Due to her blazing quickness, Hannah is always a goal scoring threat and throughout her career so far, has turned that threat in to goals."
 
Elizabeth Haizlip
Hometown: Fleming Island, Fla.
Position: Center Mid/ Center forward/Outside Back
Height: 5-10
Previous School: St. John's Country Day School
Club Team: Clay County Soccer Club
 
Constable on Haizlip: "Lizzy is a good player. I first watched Lizzy play at the CDL showcase back in February, 2015 and she stood out to me. She is a big, strong, athletic, powerful central midfielder. She is aggressive in the tackle and a fierce competitor. She can also play fantastic passes through to the strikers. Lizzy attended our ID camp in 2015 and stood out as one of the best central midfielders at the camp. We are delighted to pick her up and I think she will do an excellent job here."
 
Brianna Loube
Hometown: Jacksonville, Fla.
Position: Center Defender
Height: 5-4
Previous School: Florida Atlantic Coast High School
Club Team: JFC Storm ECNL
 
Constable on Loube: "Brianna started every game for a good JFC ECNL team. Coach Andres came across her first and was very impressed. Since then, I have gotten the opportunity to see her play too and she has always been rock solid at the heart of her team's defense. She has a good range of passing, good positional sense and is a solid defender with a good soccer mind. The fact she has been playing at a very good level in Florida over the past few years against the best players in the state, should have her very well prepared for college season starting here in a few weeks."
 
Emma Santamäki
Hometown: Naantali, Finland
Position: Center back
Height: 5-8
Previous School: Kerttulin Lukio High School
Club team: TPS
 
Constable on Santamaki: "Emma is a composed central defender. She has a good soccer mind and a fantastic range of passing with both feet. Emma has captained her country on many occasions and this type of leadership experience at such a high level will be important for our new team. Not only do I expect Emma to defend well for us this year and lead our back line, I also feel she can produce a reasonable quota of assists due to her fantastic passing ability, vision and awareness. Emma is another who currently plays every minute for TPS in Finland. She is a very important player for her current club and country and she will be just as important for us."
 
Alex Overberg
Hometown: Lawrenceburg, Ind.
Position: Outside Back
Height: 5-3
Previous School: St. Henry District High School
Club Team: KHSC Central Team1
 
Constable on Overberg: "Alex is another product of our ID Clinic. She came and played as an outside back and showed much potential. Alex has been most recently involved with the Kings Hammer Soccer Club in Indiana and St. Henry District High School. She has a good understanding of her role on the field and her job in the defensive and attacking areas. I am beyond excited to see how she grows as a player during the next four years here at NSU."
 
Amber Hamilton
Hometown: Gulf Breeze, Fla.
Position: Center Defender
Height: 5-6
Previous School: Gulf Breeze High School
Club Team: Gulf Coast Texans
 
Constable on Hamilton: "I first watched Amber play at Florida State Cup for the Gulf Coast Texans. She held her whole backline together during the first half against a very formidable TBU side. Amber is a strong, physical center back that is comfortable on the ball. She has good positional sense and is strong in the tackle. She is also more than competent in the air. Amber is another who performed very well at our ID camp. We are excited to see what Amber can add to the program during her time here."
 
Alexys Nowak
Hometown: Oviedo, Fla.
Position: Forward/Outside Mid/Outside back
Height: 5-3
Previous School: Oviedo High School
Club team- Florida Kraze Krush
 
Constable on Nowak: "Alexys is an eliminator that scores goals and get assists. She is very fast and this enables her to go past players when she runs at them. She can play out wide or as a central striker. I also believe with a bit of training she can be turned in to a highly productive outside back. Alexys has a good shot and is a fantastic 1v1 player who loves running at the opposition with the ball. She performed exceptionally well at our ID camp in 2015. She has played in many big games for her club team and high school team and we feel this has prepared her well for the college game. Alexys is originally from South Florida and I know she is excited to be back and we are excited to have her."
 
Monica Orteu
Hometown: Barcelona, Spain
Position: Central Midfield
Height: 5-9
Previous School: Pompeu Fabra University
Club team: CE Sant Gabriel
 
Constable on Orteu: "Monica is a quality holding central midfielder. She comes in as a transfer student from Spain and adds some much needed experience to our young team. Monica has fantastic vision, awareness, passing ability and composure; and always wants to be on the ball. More importantly than that is her team mates always want to give her the ball because of the trust they have in her. Monica has started in high level games at the Euros for Spain. The Spanish team she played on was one of the best in Europe at the time. We are confident we have added an excellent central midfielder to the program in Monica."
 
Victoria Hollamon
Hometown: Sugarland, Texas
Position: Defender
Height: 5-2
Previous School: St. Agnes Academy
Club Team: Eclipse 98G Black
 
Constable on Hollamon: "Victoria came to our ID camp last summer all the way from Texas. She did well and can play at center back or outside back. She has been exposed to a good level of play in Texas and this showed when she was here on campus. She defends well and positions herself well on the backline. She is also willing to get on the ball and is comfortable when on it. We are excited to have Victoria with us. She is a good soccer player and a nice girl that always seems to be smiling. I am sure she will do a good job for the program over the course of her four years here."

Brittany Plombon
Hometown: Minnetonka, Minn.
Position: Goalkeeper
Height: 5-6
Previous School: St. Cloud State University
 
Constable on Plombon: "We are excited to have Brittany with us. She has four years of college experience already having been the starting goalkeeper at St. Cloud State in Minnesota. She will come in here as a graduate student. She is an all-round good goalkeeper having played and succeeded in many college games throughout her career. We hope and expect Brittany will be a leader for us on and off the field. Our GK department will be pretty strong this year as I feel we have three quality keepers."
 
Kaitlyn Colletti
Hometown: Ravena, N.Y.
Hometown: Center Midfield
Height: 5-2
Previous School: Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk High School
Club Team: Capital United Soccer Club 
 
Constable on Colletti: "Kaitlyn is a talented midfielder that has a lot of the attributes that I look for in a player in her position. She knows how to keep possession of the ball and has a good understanding of the demands of her role. She has been exposed to a good level in the state of New York with Capital United Soccer Club and also through playing in many out of state tournaments. I had the opportunity to see her for a longer period of time when she came and played at one of our ID Clinics and she had a good performance and showed she could be a good asset to what we are looking to build here. We are excited to have Kaitlyn playing for the Sharks."
 
Parker Edwards
Hometown: Clearwater, Fla.
Position: Center Midfield
Height: 5-4
Previous School: Clearwater Central Catholic High School
Club Team: Tampa Bay United
 
Constable on Edwards: "Parker is a box to box center midfielder who came to one of our ID Clinics and performed very well. Tactically, she is pretty solid and has a good understanding of what is involved to be a good center midfielder. She has good technique and vision. Parker has been exposed to a very good level here in Florida, most recently with TBU 97 Elite Team where she has always been a solid player. I got the opportunity to watch her at the Disney Showcase as well, and after a couple visits, we knew we wanted Parker to be a Shark."
 
Emily Morgan
Hometown: Melbourne Beach, Fla.
Position: Center Forward/Central Defender
Height: 5-11
Previous School: Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy
Club team: BSA /Space Coast
 
Constable on Morgan: "Emily is a quality player. We are going to make sure she fulfills the remarkable potential that she has. She is 5-11, two footed, strong, fast, good in the air, and strong in the tackle. She has good short and long passing ability and an absolute cannon of a shot with both her left and right foot. She is also incredibly versatile as she can play both center back and center forward equally well. Over the Christmas period, I went to check on Emily's progress at the Disney showcase. I arrived 30 minutes in to the game to be told her team was up 2-0 and she had scored both goals. By the 40^th minute she put one in the upper 90 for the hat trick from 30 yards and almost made it look effortless. Watching her then only reaffirmed to me the fantastic career I believe she will have here at NSU."
 
Jacklyn Nicole Barbon
Hometown: Rising Sun, Md.
Position: Defense/Center Mid
Height: 5-5
Previous School: Rising Sun High School
Club Team: Delaware Rush '98
 
Constable on Barbon: "Jaclyn is another product of our ID camp. She attended our camp last summer and performed well. She has a good soccer brain, good composure on the ball and passes and moves well. A former player of mine actually recommended Jaclyn to us as they had played for the same team. She is coming off the back of a good season for her club team and she shall arrive here high in confidence due to this. We are looking forward to seeing her play here for the Sharks over the next four years."
 
Kirsten Russel
Hometown: Tampa, Fla.
Position: Forward/Midfield/Outside Back
Height: 5-4
Previous School: Steinbrenner High School
Club Team: Tampa Bay United
 
Constable on Russel: "We first came across Kirsten playing for TBU Premier U-17 who, at that time, went on to become national champions. Since then, she has been on campus and performed very well at our ID camp. She is a speedy wide player that can also play outside back. Kirsten can go at players 1v1 due to her speed and quickness and on the defensive end, can also stop players due to the very same reasons. She can finish and assist and is a very hardworking and team-orientated player. Kirsten has been exposed to a high level and we feel this will make the transition to NSU pretty smooth. We are thrilled to have her with us."
 
Paige Napolitano
Hometown: Tampa, Fla.
Position: Center defender/Center Midfield
Height: 5-9
Previous School: Sickles High School
Club Team: West Florida Flames
 
Constable on Napolitano: "Paige is another young woman that was first spotted after attending one of our ID camps on campus. She can play center midfield and center back and plays both very well. Since the ID camp, I have watched her play in a number of big tournaments for West Florida Flames ECNL and she has always done very well. Paige has good height, size and presence. She is athletic, she can defend well and she keeps it simple when she does have the ball and due to this retains possession very well for her team. We are excited to have Paige with us. I am sure she shall be a very productive member of our squad over the course of her four years here."

Nicole Staley
Hometown: Hudson, Fla.
Position: Center Mid
Height: 5-4
Previous School: Hudson High School
Club Team: Florida Coast FC
Constable on Staley: "Nicole first came to our attention after attending our summer 2015 ID camp here on campus. She played center midfield and did a very good job. Sierra Lelii worked with her camp team and she had a lot of positive things to say about Nicole. That certainly is a good enough reference for me. Nicole is a fit center midfielder that keeps it simple. She passes and moves well, goes box to box and is capable of picking up the occasional goal. She is a team player that works very hard for the team in and out of possession. We have watched Nicole a number of times since 2015 ID camp and she has progressed nicely since. We are excited to have her with the team."
 
Silvana Gaona
Hometown: Boca Raton, Fla.
Position: Center Defender/Midfield/Forward
Height: 5-3
Previous School: Olympic Heights High School
Club Team: Sunrise Elite
 
Constable on Gaona: "Silvana is from South Florida having previously played for Sunrise. She is another player that came to our attention after attending our ID camp. She played center back on the day, was strong in the tackle, very committed and she passed the ball well from the back. She is also a really nice girl. Silvana has been working hard this summer. We look forward to seeing what her hard work can bring this program over the course of her four years here."
 
Coach Constable concluded, "The 2016 incoming group is the first full class of players that Andres and I have been able to bring to NSU. I feel it is a good group we have coming in. There is no doubt we shall be one of the youngest teams around and will more often than not go on to the field with substantially less college games of experience under our belt in comparison to the opposition. However, up and down the country each year, there are young players on every team that excel straight away. My hope is, we can have many young players that fall in to this category on our own team this upcoming season. On the whole, I am incredibly pleased with the class we have arriving. It needed to be a good class as we lost a solid team of battle-hardened seniors who were very successful during their senior year. Overall, I feel we have done everything we set out to do from a recruitment standpoint. Our job as coaches will now be to turn a talented group of individuals in to an exciting young team. The future will look very bright for the program once this is achieved."