ALBANY – Nine student-athletes have indicated their commitment to participate for The College of Saint Rose women’s soccer team this upcoming season. Four of the nine members hail from New York, while Massachusetts, the state of Washington, Ontario and Ireland are all represented in this year’s class.
The group is comprised of forwards Carmelina Puopolo (Scarborough, ONT/Cardinal Newman) and Aoife Herbert (Killala Co. Mayo, Ireland/St. Patrick’s College), backs La’Quilla Upton (Kennewick, WA/Southridge) and Stephanie Vance (Billerica, MA/Billerica Memorial), forward/back Niki Smith (Wappingers Falls, NY/Roy C. Ketcham), back Allison Schmidt (Amityville, NY/St. John the Baptist), midfielder/forward Sydney Bond (Deer Park, NY/Deer Park), Laura Taylor (Auburn, NY/Auburn) and Lindsay McQuade (Uxbridge, MA/Uxbridge).
Puopolo was a three-time team MVP and top scorer at Cardinal Newman, which won the city championship each of the last three years and qualified for the OFSAA championship. She furthermore led the Ajax Storm club team to four Ontario Cup titles and three league championships. Puopolo, who is a member of the Canadian U-17 National Player Pool, has also been a member of the Ontario National Training Center (NTCO) for the past three years. She led the NTCO to the 2006 Gold Medal at the U-14 national championships in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan where she was the tournament’s top scorer. A year later, she guided the team to a bronze medal at the U-16 championships in Quebec.
Herbert also brings international experience with her having represented the Republic of Ireland at the U-15, U-17, U-19 and college levels. She was a member of the Irish Women’s World Student Games squad that competed in Serbia in 2009. Additionally, her club team Ballina Town won the WFAI Intermediate Cup and she was part of the WFAI Senior Cup championship team in the Mayo League.
In the back, Upton was twice named a first-team All-Conference and All-Area defender at Southridge. Upton also garnered second-team All-State accolades as a junior and was a first-team pick as a senior when she was furthermore named her team’s MVP and top defender. Vance was a four-year letterwinner at Billerica Memorial, a program that also produced Saint Rose junior forward Derith Fernandes. Vance garnered All-Conference and All-Star honors from the Merrimack Valley Conference while serving as a team captain.
Schmidt, who arrives via the Score at the Shore Chaos club team, led St. John the Baptist to both the NSCHSAA and the CHSAA class “AA” state championships last fall. A two-time team MVP and team captain, Schmidt garnered All-League accolades as a senior and also led St. John the Baptist to the 2007 NSCHSAA class “A” championship.
Smith was an honorable mention All-State pick and a section I All-Star as a senior for Ketcham and was also selected to the Super-Y League ODP national team. She helped lead the Quickstrike FC premier club team to the National Cup Regional championship, the Region 1 Colonial League championship and the Jefferson Cup championship in 2009.
Bond played for the Farmingdale Freedom premier club team and the Brooklyn Knights Super-Y team. She was an All-State, All-Suffolk County and All-League pick at Deer Park. Taylor, who graduated as the all-time leading point producer at Auburn, was an All-State selection and was named to the All-Central New York team. Taylor was also an All-League performer on two occasions and garnered All-Section accolades as well. McQuade arrives via Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer, North Carolina where she tallied four points on a pair of strikes last season for a Falcons’ squad that registered an 11-6-3 overall record en route to a second place finish in the Conference Carolinas standings. McQuade was furthermore a 2008 All-State pick in Massachusetts and was twice named a Central Massachusetts All-Star, a Gazette Super Team member and a Worcester Telegram All-Star.