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Tea Carrillo, Defender, Albion SC (CA)
Class: 2016
Commitment: Cal Poly

Soccer was a huge part to Tea Carrillo’s college search, but like many other recruits, she wanted to find the whole package on and off the field from a Division I program.

The coaching staff eventually helped trigger her final commitment to join Cal Poly, as it stood out to her as the ideal next step for her.

“The coaches there are as great as they come,” Carrillo told TopDrawerSoccer.com. “They care about success and wins and losses but care about their players even more. I could feel such a sense of family from the moment I walked in the door.”

Carillo’s recruiting process began with the desire not to leave her native Southern California. Even when intriguing out of state schools approached her, she never wavered in her decision.

One of her first visits to Cal Poly helped her decide that the soccer program was the right spot, mostly because of the people who are involved in it.

“It was nice that they have a winning tradition too but for me, if I was going to spend four years in a program I needed to really love the coaches and players and I have never met such a great group of people all around,” Carillo said.

She also liked the school’s academics.

“love their ‘hands on approach’ to learning and the small classroom sizes,” she said. “The town is known to be the happiest place on earth. You have the mountains, the beaches, and super cool and down to earth people all around.”

Five players are committed to Cal Poly for the class of 2016.

Emily Zipay, Defender, IMG Academy
Class: 2016
Commitment: Western Carolina

Starting her career as a forward before shifting to a more defensive role later on has helped Emily Zipay develop into someone capable of filling it at a number of spots on the field.

She’ll join a Southern Conference program in the fall of 2016.

“I decided to commit to Western Carolina because of the combination of academic and athletic programs that are available,” she told TopDrawerSoccer.com.

Casting a wide net across various programs in the eastern portion of the United States, she hit it off with the players and coaching staff, and felt like it was the right level and style of play for her.

Specifically, Zipay credited her decision to head coach Chad Miller, and his associate Todd Hermann.

“I can't express how much they were a part of my recruiting process, they did everything they said they would do, they took the time to email me, text and travel to see me play with IMG and other tournaments,” she said. “They made me feel as if I belonged at WCU.”

Zipay is the first verbal commitment to Western Carolina for the class of 2016.

Frankie Wolf, Defender, Albertson SC
Class: 2015
Commitment: University of the Cumberlands

I am a solid defender with a great touch on the ball, I’m very instinctive and know how to read the game very well, I’ve been playing since I was three, this game is a part of me now. I most commonly play outside back and I am able to get forward and get involved in the offense but still be a shutdown defender with impeccable field vision.

For Frankie Wolf, a New York native and defender for Albertson SC, an NAIA program eventually won out during her recruiting search.

“I decided to commit to the University of the Cumberlands because I felt a sense of home,” she told TopDrawerSoccer.com. “Walking around campus, training with the team and just talking with the coach made me feel a part of something bigger than myself, I knew that this is where I belonged.”

Looking at a variety of schools at the Division II, III and NAIA levels, she saw Cumberlands as an opportunity to restore a soccer program to its past success.

MORE: 2016 Girls IMG Academy Top 150 | Girls Commitments | ECNL Scoreboard

“I like the idea of going into a program and helping bring it to the top, and with a new head coach [coach Hamilton] we will do just that,” Wolf Said. “We will both have our first seasons with the team this upcoming fall and I think with his fantastic coaching methods and ideologies and bringing in other top recruits the program is going to skyrocket.”