Princeton welcomes six for class of 2019
Princeton will welcome six members of the Princeton Class of 2019 to a team that returns six of its seven goal scorers from 2014. Here are the six new Tigers and assistant coach Ron Celestin's thoughts on each:
Mimi Asom • Forward
Hockaday School (Dallas, Texas)
Club: Dallas Sting
"Mimi is a natural striker who scores goals at an alarming rate. She has a knack of being in the right place at the right time. She will complement a very talented group of attacking players. We are fortunate to have gotten Mimi late in the process and we are confident she will be impactful for many years to come."
Asom held a No. 67 ranking on the IMG top 150 and helped her club team to an ECNL title in 2014 and 2015, finishing as the team's top scorer in both years. In 2013, her club team was a third-place national finisher, and Asom led the tournament with six goals. Also in 2013, her team won the SPC state title with Asom winning tournament MVP honors. In 2012, Asom was named Best of ECNL at the Stanford Showcase and her team was an ECNL national championship finalist. In 2011 and 2013, she was an id2 camp selection, and also in 2011, she was the USYSA National Championships Golden Ball winner and a part of the USYSA National Championship Best 11 team. She was also a standout on the track, with her 4x100 relay team winning an SPC state title. Asom has ODP experience, playing in the 2013 ODP Region III championship tournament, the 2012 ODP Thanksgiving Interregional, playing with the Region III team from 2011-13 in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Costa Rica, and she was a part of the 2010 and 2011 Region III camp.
Leah Becker • Midfield
Episcopal Academy (Newtown Square, Pa.)
Club: PDA
"Leah is a talented individual and a highly versatile attacking player who can play in multiple positions and in multiple systems. Leah's work rate is unsurpassed and we look forward to infusing her into our style of player."
Becker's PDA team reached the ECNL national quarterfinals each year from 2012-14 and was a part of the id2 regional camp in 2011 and played at the U.S. National Training Center in 2011 and 2012. She was a part of the state ODP program for five years and the regional team for one year. At Episcopal Academy, she was named first-team all-county, first-team all-league and first-team All-Main Line during her career. Becker was Episcopal's leading goal scorer during her career, helping Episcopal to an Inter-Ac title and a state final appearance.
Noelani Kong-Johnson • Goalkeeper
Punahou School (Honolulu, Hawaii)
Club: Leahi Premier
"Noelani is an accomplished goalkeeper with good hands and awareness. She was a much sought-after keeper by a number of schools from the West Coast and we are glad she elected to join our program as she will have an opportunity to push and challenge for starting role."
Kong-Johnson was part of the ODP Hawai'i state team from and the Region IV regional pool camp from eighth through 10th grade, the Region IV regional team in ninth and 10th grade and the national development camp in 10th grade. Her club team won the Hawai'i State Cup annually from grades sixth through 11 and competed in the Far West regional championship from eighth through 12th grade, making the finals in eighth and ninth grade, the semifinals in 10th grade and the quarterfinals in 12th grade. Kong-Johnson's club team competed in the San Diego Surf Cup from sixth through 12th grades, making the quarterfinals in seventh grade, the sermifinals in 12th grade and the finals in 11th grade. With Punahou, Kong-Johnson's team made the state finals in 10th grade and won a league title in 12th grade. She was an all-state honorable mention as a freshman, all-state second team as a sophomore, first-team all-league as a sophomore and senior and second-team all-league as a junior. She was a team captain on both her high school and club teams.
Samantha McDonough • Forward/Wide Midfielder
Shore High School (West Long Branch, N.J.)
Club: NJ Wildcats
"Sam is a very talented offensive player who has the ability to score and create for others. Sam brings pace and high energy and we look forward to integrating her within our program. She will be joining her sister, Jesse, who is a rising junior and one of the key players on our team."
McDonough served as a team captain at Shore during her junior and senior year and was a team Rookie of the Year pick in 2011. Shore won a divisional title and made a sectional final appearance in 2011 and 2014 and won a sectional title in 2013. McDonough was a second-team Group I all-state selection in 2012, when she was also an All-Monmouth second-team pick. In 2013, McDonough was a coaches association sectional recognition award winner, and in 2014, she was a first-team all-conference pick while earning another first-team all-state Group I honor. Her New Jersey Wildcats team won the state cup in 2012, and she was a part of the ODP select team in 2011, played in the Super Y in 2011 and in the Women's Pro-Am league from 2011-15.
Courtney O'Brien • Forward
Harvard-Westlake (Studio City, Calif.)
Club: Real So Cal
"I believe that Courtney is going to be a very influential attacking player in our system. She is more of a north-and-south type player and is very adept at putting the ball in the back of the net. Like many of our players, she has a bright future ahead of her and we are excited to have her in a Tiger uniform."
O'Brien's Harvard-Westlake team was a four-time Mission League champion with O'Brien on the squad, making the CIF-Southern Section playoffs all four years and winning the Mater Dei Premier Invitational tournament twice. She was twice named Player of the Year by the Los Angeles Daily News and was a Daily News three-time all-area pick. O'Brien was a three-time first-team All-CIF Southern Section selection, a three-time All-Mission League offensive MVP, twice was named the Mater Dei Premier Invitational MVP, won three team MVP honors and was the top scorer in the Mission League in each of the last three seasons. Real So Cal made the U17 Round of 32 at the ECNL national playoffs in 2014 and the U16 team finished eighth nationally at the ECNL national finals. In 2012, O'Brien's U15 Real So Cal team finished 12th nationally at the ECNL national finals. O'Brien was the 10th-highest U16 goal scorer in the nation in the ECNL in 2012-13, scoring 16 goals, and she was the top goal scorer among Southern California U16 players in the ECNL that year. O'Brien took part in the U.S. Soccer U17 national team training camp in 2013, and she was a part of the ECNL/id2 national training camp in Beaverton, Oregon in 2013. O'Brien was also in the ECNL Player Development Program in Irvine, California in 2013 and was part of the ODP Cal South pool in 2010 and 2013. O'Brien was in the Cal South Young Olympians pool in 2009 and was among the Athlete of the Year selections in 2013 and 2014 in the Palisadian-Post.
Alexandra Whiting • Forward/Wide Back
Santa Fe Christian Schools (Solana Beach, Calif.)
Club: Del Mar Sharks
"Ali is a great addition to an already talented pool of players. She can play on defense or as a striker. She's athletic and very good in the air with a tremendous upside. She will provide us with great options on both sides of the ball. She is a passionate individual and we are so happy to have her in our program."
Whiting was a senior captain at Santa Fe Christian Schools, which won a league championship in her final season. She was a first-team all-league pick as a senior and first-team all-league as a junior. Whiting recently joined the Del Mar-Carmel Valley Sharks, which is a two-time defending U.S. Youth Soccer national champion and will be making its third appearance in the championships this summer.
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