Soccer Announces 2019 Signing Class

The Cougars are excited to welcome Lily Bray, Zionah Browne, Kennedy Dahlin, Madison Gear, Rylie Haussler, Brielle Maloney and Addie Tate.

“The 2019 class exemplifies everything we are striving for in our student-athletes.” said Bocanegra. “They are talented, hardworking and motivated in all aspects of their lives. Most importantly, they are great people that fit into the team culture that we have established as we work to build Champions for Life.”

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So it looks like 5 of the 6 that I had in the pinned recruiting thread made it in; only Ky Hudson, the GK from the Woodlands didn’t make it on to campus. Below are the threads for all 5.

Kennedy Dahlin, Byron Nelson HS, F

Maddie Gear, Rockwall-Heath HS, M

Rylie Haussler, Littleton, CO, M

Brielle Maloney, St Augustine, FL, D

Addie Tate, Lewisville HS, D

The other 2 incoming players:

LILY BRAY | MIDFIELDER | CHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND.

Bray joins the Cougars from St. Andrews College in Christchurch, New Zealand. Bray helped lead her team to a sixth place finish in the Premier National Tournament to top off her senior year. Bray debuted for the Canterbury United Pride of the National League in 2014, where she continued to play through 2018. In 2015, Bray was selected for the Pathway to Podium Program. Selected for the NZ U17 squad, Bray toured China, Japan and Canada. Bray was named the 2016 Youth Player of the Year and 2016 Mainland Women’s Player of the Year. Additionally, Bray played Tennis and Cricket throughout her high school career, received academic honors in 2016 and 2017, and received the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award.

Bocanegra on Bray: “Lily is a creative, skillful, play-making midfielder who will positively change our ability to unlock opposing defenses. With her club and international experiences, we are increasing our overall soccer IQ and adding someone who will make the players around her better.”

ZIONAH BROWNE | FORWARD/DEFENDER | HOUSTON, TEXAS

Browne comes to Houston after spending one season at Baylor where the Lady Bears captured a 20-6 overall record, appeared in the Big 12 title match and advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals. Browne was named to the Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll for both the fall and spring semesters and was tabbed for the Dean’s list during the fall semester. Prior to attending Baylor, Browne played for Challenge SC from 2012-17 and was the team’s top scorer in 2015 (12 goals; three assists) and 2016 (16 goals; eight assists). Browne attended both Klein High School and Clements High School where she was a three-time All-District First Team selection, Academic All-District selection and a TopDrawerSoccer All-Region and All-State All-Star. The Houston native scored 16 goals and notched eight assists in 2016, following a stellar season in 2015 when she posted 26 goals and 14 assists. During the 2014 slate, Browne scored 16 goals to go along with eight assists.

Bocanegra on Browne “We are excited to get a transfer like ‘Zi’ to come back home to Houston. Her pace, athleticism and ability to get in behind the defense will stretch our opponents and immediately add another dimension to our attack.”

One thing about this team is that it will be much more experienced this year…probably the most experienced team of Coach Bocanegra’s time here. 9 seniors return and should provide some leadership to a team that seemed to need it at times last season.

Again, really excited about this season and think we’ll at least make the conference tournament.

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