Last season, Mile High Edge women's soccer coach Danny Sanchez put together a squad starting with a few outstanding veteran players, and surrounded them with a group of less experienced youngsters, many of whom were still in high school. Remarkably, that team overachieved its way into the W-League playoffs for the first time in the six year history of the franchise. They came within one goal of making a trip to the Final Four in Vancouver.
In 2007, things have changed quite a little bit. By focusing on recruiting and selling the benefits of playing for a top shelf franchise, Sanchez has hit the mother load, landing a plethora of blue-chip talent for the upcoming campaign. The Mile High season starts this Sunday against the San Diego Sunwaves. Game time is 6:00 PM, at the Kickers Club in Golden.
Said Sanchez, "We've done a good job of getting a lot of local players signed, and we've been fortunate enough to attract some out of state players that are really going to help".
Sanchez continued, "With the prospect of a professional league starting up again next summer, I think it's really been a draw for us and other teams in the league for players to kind of keep it going (until then). Plus we have a pretty good reputation for being organized and having a good team".
Any coach knows that in order to challenge for a conference title, his team must be solid at goalkeeper. This season Sanchez inked possibly the top netminder in the region in Dani Wiley. Wiley is the all-time leader in wins at the University of Denver (50), and in 2006 led her team into the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever. She had a record of 19-3-1, and a miniscule .47 goals against average, that included eight clean sheets.
Said Sanchez, "She had a great career at DU, and is a very good keeper. We're fortunate to have her".
Wiley's backup will be Theresa Bagby, who just finished her career at Ralston Valley High School. She was an All-State selection and Most Valuable Player for the Mustangs.
The defense this season will be anchored by the reunion of two University of Colorado graduates. Ashlie Mihalcin returns for her third season with Mile High, and has been named a co-captain. She was an All-Big 12 performer in 2004, and her strength in the air makes her dangerous on offensive corner kicks. She also has a bit of a mean streak, which is a plus for a defender.
She will be joined by former Lady Buffs teammate Laura Munnelly, who just completed her senior season in Boulder. Munnelly was named to the All-Big 12 team in each of her four seasons, and played all but 20 minutes of her entire career. She holds the school record for games played, with 91.
The rest of the defense will include Raydan Phillips, Jamie Norwood, Krystal Kilbey, Elisa Berzins, and Kathleen Paulsen. The gritty Phillips was an All-Western Conference player for the Edge in 2006, despite only being a senior in high school. Norwood returns to the club after a one year absence, and is the all-time assist leader at the University of Denver. Kilbey had an outstanding career playing for Sanchez at Metro State, Berzins is a strong defender along with being a long throw specialist, and Paulsen played all 19 games as a freshman at Arkansas last season.
There is a giant upgrade in midfield this season for the Edge, and as always, it will revolve around team captain Katie Antongiovanni. Beginning her fourth season with the club, Antongiovanni has been an All-Western Conference player in each of the three previous, and was on the All-USL team in 2005. She has led the team in scoring for three years running, and has been the heart and soul of the franchise. The problem was that she has had to deal with constant double and triple teaming from the other Western Conference teams.
Not any more. She will have immense help this season in the middle, beginning with Mallory Miller. Miller was an All-American at the University of Arizona in 2005, and a finalist for National Player of the Year. She also spent time on the United States Under-21 national squad. She played for the Arizona Heatwave in the W-League in 2005.
Also coming to the Edge will be Laura's big sister Fran Munnely. Another University of Colorado graduate, Munnelly is the most decorated player in Lady Buffs history. She is their all-time leading scorer (30 goals, 24 assists, 84 points), and was a 2 nd team All-American in 2005. She was All-Big 12 in each of her four years in college.
Yet another All-American comes to Mile High this season in the form of Kira Sharp. Sharp played for Sanchez at Metro State and scored the clutch, game winning goals in overtime in both the national final and semi-final in 2006. Before Metro, she was an All-American at Cochise College. She is especially dangerous on free kicks.
Rounding out the midfielders will be Cee Cee Odorfer, who was the leading scorer at Northern Arizona, and Jen Arceneaux, an Arvada, Colorado native who just completed her freshman year at Farleigh Dickinson, playing in all 17 games.
Coach Sanchez completes the vastly improved side with a stockpile of offensive talent at forward, beginning with Mile High veteran Ymara Guante. Beginning her third season with the Edge, Guante was named to the W-League All-Western Conference squad for the second straight season in 2006, and was the Division II Player of the Year in 2004 for the National Champions at Metro State. She recently completed a lifelong dream when she was named to the national team of her native Panama.
Joining Guante will be former Metro State teammate and 2006 Division II Player of the Year Kylee Hanavan. A three-time All-American with the Roadrunners, Hanavan is their all-time leading scorer with a staggering 80 goals and 46 assists. She led her team to two national championships in three seasons at Metro.
Another former Arizona Heatwave standout comes to the Edge with the signing of Liz Bogus. Bogus was an All-Pac 10 selection at Arizona State in both 2002 and 2005, and she is the second all-time scorer in Sun Devils history. Along with Mallory Miller, she played on the United States U-21 national team.
If that was not enough, the Edge was also able to sign forward Gianna DeSaverio. DeSaverio led the Arizona Wildcats scorers in 2006, and before that was the Colorado High School Player of the Year at Chatfield in both 2004 and 2005. She recently transferred to the University of Colorado.
Filling out the Edge side will be forward Samantha Picraux, who holds the University of Colorado club team record of 24 goals and 56 points in a season, and Kimmi Boyer, who joins the team for her second season after playing 17 games as a freshman at Kansas.
The toughest problem Coach Sanchez may have this season, and a good problem at that, will be to find playing time for all of these standout footballers. "We have a lot of options", understated Sanchez.