HS: A-A teammates turn college rivals

by Sheldon Shealer

December 4, 2015

HIGH SCHOOL ALL-AMERICAN GAME ROSTERS: BOYS TEAMS | GIRLS TEAMS

RALEIGH, N.C. — This week, Laura Suero and Chantelle Swaby got a little more than they bargained for when they committed to play in the High School All-America game two months.

Suero, a senior at Spring-Ford (Royersford, Pa.), and Swaby, a senior at William Hall (West Hartford, Conn.), will be teammates in Saturday’s all-star contest but will be rivals Friday night in the stands while watching their future college programs clash in the NCAA Women’s College Cup semifinals.

Suero has committed to Penn State. Swaby is bound for Rutgers. Penn State and Rutgers meet for the third time this season in the 5 p.m. national semifinal Friday in Cary, N.C. The teams split their earlier meetings.

“I packed all of my Penn State gear first,” Suero said. “I’ll be wearing that to represent.”

“I’m really excited about it,” said Swaby, who plans to be decked out in Rutgers attire. “I really didn’t expect this (Rutgers reaching the semifinals), but to be honest I think they will win it. I’m really confident in their defense.”

Swaby will not be alone. Amanda Visco of Colts Neck (Colts Neck, N.J.) and Nicole Whitley of Freehold Township (Freehold, N.J.) also are Rutgers commits playing in the High School All-America girls game this weekend.

The High School All-America games for boys and girls will be played Saturday afternoon at nearby Cardinal Gibbons High School. Players arrived Thursday for the event and will have practice sessions Friday before the entire group heads to the NCAA semifinals Friday night.

SEE IT LIVE: The High School All-America Games will be live streamed Saturday, Dec. 5, on TopDrawerSoccer.com with the boys match starting at 2 p.m. and the girls to follow at 4 p.m. EST.

FAMILY AFFAIR: Boston College commit Francesca Venezia of St. Anthony's (Melville, N.Y.) is playing in this year’s all-star game. Last year, her sister, Nicola, played in the contest. The Venezia’s mark the fourth set of siblings to play in the event and second set of sisters, joining Catherine (2013) and Annika Schmidt (2014) of Zionsville (Zionsville, Ind.).

WORLD TRAVELER: Samantha Hiatt, another Boston College commit, recently participated in the U.S. Soccer Women’s Under-20 National Team training events in Honduras and Spain. Hiatt was able to honor her high school commitments, as well, helping Seattle Prep to a SIMA FAB 50 No. 12 finish following an undefeated season.

A LITTLE LUCK: Addison Luck, the younger brother of NFL quarterback Andrew Luck, will be competing in this year’s boys all-star game. Luck, who has committed to Yale, has been a two-time all-state performer at Morgantown (Morgantown, W.Va.), where his father, Oliver, formerly was the director of athletics at West Virginia University.

Related Topics: SIMA FAB 50 / Event, Atlantic Coast, Big Ten, Ivy League