Three years ago, goalkeeper Emma Malsy verbally committed to play soccer at Arizona State University. A year later, midfielder Amanda Jones verbally committed to play soccer for the Sun Devils and now, our third athlete and defender, Nicole Soto, has verbally committed to play soccer for Arizona State Sun Devils.
In November 2014, Nicole was featured in one of our blog posts as we talked about the dedication of a group of soccer girls that were training to have the best opportunity to make their high school Varsity teams.
Since that blog post, Nicole has had a lot of changes happen in her soccer career: joining the So Cal Blues ECNL team, earning a spot on the Los Alamitos high school Varsity team as a Freshman, being scouted by the Mexican Youth National teams, and actively taking a hold of her college recruiting process.
Nicole is the athlete that every coaches wish they had on their team. She pushes her teammates in practice from start to finish and always is one of the first to finish all fitness tests and training. Nicole has open, frank conversations with her coaches about her performances in games and the steps she needs to take to raise her ability to play at her best. Nicole invites constructive criticism and does not shy away from an opportunity that she knows will only make her a better soccer player.
In Nicole fashion, playing soccer in college was not a choice but a goal waiting to be conquered. Watching her older sister Ashley go through the process and verbally commit to play soccer at USC, Nicole wanted to forge her own path and be in control of the process. After looking at several colleges on the west coast, Nicole weighed out the options between academics, athletics, and the social culture of each college. Then last month, Nicole decided that Arizona State University was the right fit for her.
It doesn’t surprise me (Coach Brittany) that every goal Nicole has set for herself, she has accomplished each one with a strong belief in her abilities and the fight to push herself as far as she can go. That’s the Nicole-way of accomplishing goals: Go 100% with honesty, perseverance, and strength -and- of course, she’ll come out on top!