Lauren Miller comes from a relatively small community in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, so when searching for a college home she looked for similarities to her current one. 

She found it in North Dakota State, a modest program that’s on the rise in the Summit League. And if the Bison are on the upswing now, just wait until Miller arrives on campus in 2013.

“They have had winning seasons the past few years and I like where they’re going,” Miller said. “A smaller campus is what I was looking for. I visited some larger schools and didn’t feel connected to the campus the way I do North Dakota State.”

Miller is great at connecting on the field, where her standout play as an attacker for Minnesota Thunder has her ranked No. 59 in our 2013 class Top 100. 

Miller’s announcement is part of a chain reaction that saw some of the best from the 2013 class also make commitment news. 

Albertson SC teammates Amanda Rooney and Jaclyn DiMartino are among them.

The duo will officially be ACC rivals in a couple years when Rooney heads to North Carolina and DiMartino to Boston College.

DiMartino, our No. 38 ranked player in her class, will be following in the footsteps of older sister and Boston College standout Victoria DiMartino. She’s a part of a line of successful DiMartinos that includes WPS players Gina and Christina. 

Rooney is ranked No. 32 in the class and will be seeing plenty more of Jaclyn as she joins the Tar Heels. 

Out of the Heartland Region, Elizabeth Bartels of Toro SC has given her verbal to Marquette. 

Bartels is a talented striker who is currently No. 43 in the 2013 class.

Twin commits Alayna and Mariel Smith (Rockdale Youth Soccer Association) have committed to Alabama State for the 2012 season. 

Gabrielle Cook has verbally committed to George Mason for the 2013 season. Cook is No. 10 in the Pennsylvania Region. 

Taylor Milburn (Lonestar SC) has verbally committed to UTEP for the 2013 season. 

Jackie Friedman (San Diego Surf) has verbally committed to Dartmouth College for the 2012 season. 

Maxie New (FC Bucks Revolution) has verbally committed to LaSalle for the 2013 season. 

Samantha Fabian (Tustin United Red) has verbally committed to Louisiana Tech for the 2012 season. 

Sasha Gray (Albertson SC) has verbally committed to Vanderbilt for the 2013 season. She is No. 6 in the New York Region. 

Sparta United players Natalie Stoven, Dani Gaztambide and Sara Lorscheider have all verbally committed to Utah State for the 2012 season. Teammate Katie Flynn has committed to Idaho State while Becca Spangler has given her verbal to San Jose State for 2012. 

Hailey Hunt (Solar SC) has verbally committed to Stephen F. Austin State for the 2013 season. 

Kristen Bailey-Yoo (Legends SC) has verbally committed to Utah Valley for the 2012 season. 

Alyson Brown (Richmond Kickers) has verbally committed to NC State for the 2013 season. Brown is No. 15 in the Mid Atlantic.

Hannah Dearborn (Real So Cal) has verbally committed to Colorado for the 2013 season.  

Erica Kosienski (SoccerPlus CT) has verbally committed to Boston University for the 2013 season.