Cal Poly Women's Soccer Signs Seven
The Cal Poly women's soccer program has signed seven players to National Letters of Intent to continue their careers as Mustangs starting before this upcoming fall.
They'll join a team returning seven All-Big West honorees from a year ago, including a senior class looking to add to its 18-5-2 record through conference play over the past three years.
"We're very excited about this class of incoming freshmen," Cal Poly head coach Alex Crozier said. "It's a group that has a great combination of technical ability and athleticism, so we're looking forward to helping them reach their potential while continuing to build upon the success of our program."
The Mustangs finished second in the league standings last season (after winning the regular-season title in 2013), leading the Big West in goals (32) and assists during conference play (15) while also finishing in the top half in fewest goals allowed and shutouts.
Below, the class of newcomers, which is comprised of two defenders, three midfielders and two forwards, is detailed alphabetically:
Chelsea Barry, D, 5-7, Danville, CA (Monte Vista HS / Mustang SC)
Barry has starred as an attacking outside back for the Mustangs, who last year were crowned as the SIMA FAB 50 national champion after going 24-0-2 and claiming their second North Coast Section Division 1 title in a three-year span.
Through the first 16 games this season, Barry has captained their back line to a performance resulting in conceding just three times, an effort following a 19-shutout run in 2013-14 (after which she earned all-league and Contra Costa Times All-East Bay Area honors). In all, MVHS, currently ranked No. 3 nationally by MaxPreps.com (and No. 1 in the state), is on a 42-match unbeaten streak.
Barry, previously selected to the IMG Academy 150 Player Pool, also has played at the Elite Clubs National League level for the Mustang Mavericks program since 2011, after belonging to NorCal State Cup-winning teams in each of the previous three years.
An honor roll student who also participates in Leadership and Science Alliance Mentoring while volunteering for the National Charity League, Barry has won her school's President's Award for Academics, the NCS Scholar-Athlete Award and the Mustang Soccer Female Youth Referee of the Year Award. She plans to major in kinesiology at Cal Poly.
Kelly Kessloff, MF, 5-4, Cypress, CA (Cypress HS / Beach FC)
This past summer, Kessloff helped Beach Futbol Club from Torrance to the U-18 title at the Youth Soccer National Championships in Germantown, Md. It came after her squad also won the 2013 Surf Cup.
In the preseason, the Orange County Register listed her as one of the area's top 10 players to watch.
A four-year starter for the Centurions, she was named MVP of the Empire League a year ago after putting away a conference-leading 15 goals for the Southern Section Division 3 semifinalists.
In addition to being an honor roll student and scholar-athlete every year, Kessloff (another team captain) also participates in Physics Club and Do Your Part. She plans to major in environmental engineering.
Sydney Knauer, MF, 5-8, San Luis Obispo, CA (San Luis Obispo HS / San Luis Obispo SC)
Playing for the SLO Storm for the past eight years, Knauer won a U-16 club championship at the State Cup in the summer of 2013 in San Bernardino.
A four-year varsity contributor, Knauer now captains a Tigers squad coached by former Cal Poly center mid Kaleena Andruss. She was a first-team all-league choice last season after earning the team's Offensive Player of the Year award as a freshman.
Knauer, a scholar-athlete and ASB senior class vice president, was recently chosen as the Student of the Month by her school's teachers and counselors.
In addition to also competing in volleyball and track, the aspiring business major has coached at summer camps and participated in SLO Marathon, Walk MS, Miracle Miles for Kids and Color Blast Fun Run.
Caitlyn Kreutz, F, 5-5, Clovis, CA (Buchanan HS / Central California Soccer Alliance)
Last season's Fresno Bee Player of the Year and Tri-River Athletic Conference MVP, Kreutz had 22 goals and eight assists while lifting the Bears to the semifinals of the Southern California Regional Tournament.
As Buchanan won three straight Central Section Division 1 championships and ended ranked among the country's top 25 teams by MaxPreps each time (twice among the top-10 statewide), she accumulated a 43-goal, 22-assist total.
Kreutz has also led the Central California Soccer Alliance in scoring every year since 2012, as the club ascended to No. 3 in the Northern California rankings.
Coming from the same alma mater of previous Mustang attacking players Kacey Held and Elise Krieghoff, Kreutz (who plans to major in business) is also an AP student and California Scholarship Federation member.
Stephanie Magellan, F, 5-4, San Jose, CA (Cupertino HS / De Anza Force SC)
Magellan chalked up a hat trick in each of her first four matches this season captaining the Pioneers, and has either scored or assisted in all of her appearances as a senior. Hailing from the same program that also produced recent all-regional Mustang midfielder Cici Kobinski, her career totals now stand at 66 goals and 26 assists.
As a junior, Magellan earned both San Jose Mercury News All-Area and All-Santa Clara Valley League status.
Born in Rio de Janeiro, she has previously belonged to the U-17 Brazilian National Team pool. Her club, De Anza Force, won the ECNL U-15 championship in 2013, two years after she played for a Santa Clara Sporting Green side that received a No. 1 national ranking.
Two of Magellan's family members are among the 10 most prolific strikers in San Francisco history. Her father Roberto scored 38 times (along with 12 assists) for the Dons from 1982-85 after her uncle Felipe had 45 and 26 five years prior during a career that saw USF win national championships in 1978 and 1980.
An honors student looking to major in kinesiology, Magellan has also given her spare time to the school's Tino Cancer Society.
Lexi Marietti, D, 5-7, Dana Point, CA (Dana Hills HS / So Cal Blues SC)
Marietti has led the Dolphins to back-to-back league titles over the course of her four-year varsity career, as well as to the Southern Section Division 1 semifinals last season as a captain.
Additionally, while playing for the So Cal Blues of San Juan Capistrano, she played a role in claiming two ECNL championships. The latter year, 2013, saw them give up the fewest goals, as TopDrawerSoccer.com listed her as one of the 10 most impressive players at an event in San Diego.
Also an IMG Academy 150 selection, TDS ranked Marietti as one of the top 40 defenders throughout the country.
In addition to being an honor roll student and scholar-athlete, as well as a California Scholarship Federation member with aspirations to major in business, Marietti has been a member of her school's Make-A-Wish club and PTSA.
Michaela Olney, MF, 5-4, Orcutt, CA (Righetti HS / San Luis Obispo SC)
Olney has compiled 49 career goals and 30 assists midway through this season for the Warriors, who've gone 33-7-2 in league play with her leading the attack.
She earned All-Southern Section Division 3 First Team honors as a sophomore, and also won the Pac-7 Offensive Player of the Year award in each of her first two years.
Recently a Northern Santa Barbara County Athletic Round Table Athlete of the Week honoree in January, Olney has also played for the SLO Storm club since last year.
Soon to be a fourth-generation Cal Poly student majoring in kinesiology, she's a niece of two former Cal Poly greats: Melanie Hathaway, a former AVCA all-region outside hitter in volleyball from 1997 to 2001, and Jeremiah Mayes, a starting forward for the Mustang men's basketball team during the same era.
Also previously a libero in volleyball and a sprinter in track, Olney has been a scholar-athlete, volunteered at a local homeless shelter and has helped at Special Olympics.
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