Goshen, IN — The Goshen College women’s soccer program officially announced its initial recruiting class for the spring signing period on Thursday, adding a wealth of talent and depth to the squad beginning in the fall of 2007. After coming off of a 6-11-1 record in ‘06, Goshen head coach Thavisith Mounsithiraj said he feels his team has continued to head in the right direction with the addition of five incoming recruits — all of which will be expected to step in and contribute right away, he said.
Mounsithiraj announced five players signed letters of intent to continue their soccer careers and education at Goshen beginning in the fall, led by Heather Zimmerman, a 5-9 defender from Guam. A member of Guam’s National team, Zimmerman brings extensive playing experience to the program at Goshen. She recently served as her team’s captain in the under-19 Women’s Championship Qualifiers held in Chinese Taipei, as well as playing in many international games, including competition against several powerhouse teams such as the Japanese, Chinese and South Korean National teams. She has traveled to Asia, Japan, China, Singapore, South Korea, Philippines, Chinese Taipei and Saipan to play soccer, while Zimmerman is currently training for the Marianas Cup and EAFF Women’s Championship qualifying tournament.
“Heather has been a regular in the starting line-up for the Guam Women’s U19 National Team and will bring with her an extensive playing experience at the international level,” Mounsithiraj said.
Zimmerman stated two main criteria in her search for an ideal school, and fortunately for the Mounsithiraj and staff, Goshen met both of those and more.
“I wanted to find a school that offered a specific Sign Language Interpreting degree,” Zimmerman said. “There are many colleges that offer American Sign Language as elective classes in education programs, but few offer a focused study program leading to a degree in this field. God has given me a special love for working with people with disabilities. I have a passion for the people who use ASL and other signed languages to communicate. I want to help bridge the gap between the visual and the verbal world and especially help reach this community with the Gospel.”
Zimmerman’s second criteria included finding a school at which she could continue playing soccer competitively. Mounsithiraj said he couldn’t be happier that Zimmerman chose Goshen’s program to fit that bill.
“I love to play soccer and I am a part of the women’s national team at Guam,” Zimmerman said. “I am privileged to have had the opportunity to compete in many foreign international competitions in Pacific Rum countries. I am hoping to increase my skill and level of competition by playing in a larger national arena.”
In Coach Mounsithiraj’s five years at the helm of the team, he has never seen more than six wins in a season. After a season that saw much improvement on the field, and with a talented group returning, Zimmerman may be one of the keys to getting over the hump and having a winning season.
“At this point we are not sure where we will use Heather on the field. We hope to use her where we can utilize her strengths as both a player and leader, which could be in a number of different positions,” said Tera Franklin, Goshen assistant coach. “Heather chose Goshen for all the right reasons. She is what we are looking for in a student-athlete. Her faith has been the driving force in her college decision. I am excited for Heather and look forward to what her future will hold in mission work and where her American Sign Language studies will take her.
“We are very excited about Heather’s future here at Goshen College. We believe she will make an immediate impact with her arrival on campus. She is the type of player that will be able to step in and make our team better from day one. The signing of Heather Zimmerman is a huge step for us in the right direction as we continue to strive to make our program a successful one.”
With the loss of All-Mid Central Conference performer Hannah Eash to graduation, Mounsithiraj will be looking for a defender to fill Eash’s spot on the field.
“Heather’s technical ability and knowledge will allow her to be effective wherever we put her on the pitch,” Mounsithiraj said. “She is very strong in the air and will have a great career here.”
Zimmerman is not only a talented soccer player, but also gifted in many other areas, notably so in American Sign Language. She was requested, and accepted, an invitation to provide the Sign Language Interpreting for the Governor’s televised State of the Island address in January of this year.
“My accomplishments have only increased my desire to hone my skills further and that is why I want to come to Goshen College,” Zimmerman said. “I like that Goshen is a mission-oriented college and I am also excited about the SST program. In addition, I also love that the school was founded on Biblical principals and has core values that reflect similar principles that I have been raised with. I am very excited about attending Goshen. This will be a new chapter in my life and I am ready to start seeing what God has in store for me. I cannot wait to start sharpening my soccer and signing skills. I don’t know all the details of God's plan for me, I just know that Goshen is a part of the plan.”
Joining Zimmerman will be a tandem of area talent, as Mounsithiraj signed 2007 Concord High School graduate Bethany Yoder and Goshen High School standout Yaneth Hernandez as well.
Yoder, a two-time All-Northern Lakes Conference selection, helped her team to the states’s Class 4A Final Four in the 2005 season. A four-year varsity player, Yoder served as team captain in 2006 and was voted by area coaches as a Sports Fest 2007 All-Star. She will compete in that game in June.
“Bethany is an outstanding student-athlete who is an ideal fit for our program,” Mounsithiraj said. “She will certainly have an impact in the 2007 season. She will provide versatility and depth in our midfield. Her competitiveness and aggressive style of play will certainly help in strengthening our defense.”
Yoder is on pace to graduate in the top seven percent of her class of 354 at Concord, carrying a 3.86 grade point average which led to her receiving the Academic Honors Award in each of her four years at the school. Yoder was an Academic All-State selection following her junior and senior seasons and was a member of the National Honor Society in her junior and senior years.
“With Bethany we are getting yet another student-athlete who has dedicated herself both in the classroom and on the soccer field,” Franklin said. “Goshen is a good fit for Bethany and with our very strong nursing program I expect that she will excel academically over the next four years.”
Yoder helped lead her Concord team to three Northern Lake Conference Championships. She won two sectional championships and one regional championship. She will join former teammate and current sophomore Emmy Gibson on the Leafs’ roster.
“I chose Goshen College because I liked the fact that is was my church school and faith background,” Yoder said. “Also, my brother Matt (member of the men’s soccer team) will be a senior there next year and because we have a close relationship I thought that it would be cool to be with him. Another factor that helped me choose Goshen was their well-respected nursing department.
“Athletically I hope to be a part of a team that continues to improve year to year,” she continued. “Although winning is important, I also want to be a part of a team that has fun and builds relationships. Academically I hope to remain strong so that I may graduate and pursue any area of nursing I desire. Mostly I am looking forward to the freedom I will receive and the new relationships and friendships I will build. I hope that while in college I will be molded into an independent thinker and that my faith will grow stronger.”
Goshen High School’s Hernandez gives the Leafs a talented forward who has a knack for scoring goals, as she ranked in the state’s top 20 in goal scoring in 2006 with 19 goals —averaging 2.3 points per game. Mounsithiraj said Hernandez is also a talented passer who sees the field well — she tallied eight assists as a senior — garnering Northern Lakes All-Conference honors as well.
“Yaneth is a true striker whose attacking ability will help our scoring immediately,” Mounsithiraj said. “Her creativity with the ball allows her to create scoring chances for herself and others.”
As a senior, Hernandez led her Goshen team to a 14-5-1 record, a year in which her team also captured a sectional championship. She will join former high school teammate Allison Yoder, who will be a sophomore for the Leafs in the 2007 season.
“I am really excited about attending Goshen next year,” Hernandez said. “I am the first person in my family who has been presented the opportunity to get a college education, so I am really looking forward to getting my degree. I’m not positive right now, but I think I may like to major in Spanish Education. Goshen seemed like a good fit to me. I have really enjoyed the time I have spent with the girls on the team. They are a good group of people to be around and they have been so welcoming to me.”
Franklin said that Hernandez’s ability to score goals will be of major value immediately, as the Leafs were shut out in each of their 11 defeats in 2006.
“We are excited about Yaneth’s decision to continue her playing career at Goshen as she will give us another natural forward,” Franklin said. “I think her and current freshman forward Kaylee Pichardo can really work well together and create many more chances for us to score goals. Yaneth’s arrival will also take pressure off of juniors Sara Groff and Lucy Roth to score goals and allow them to focus on ball distribution in the midfield.”
The fourth player to commit to the Leafs’ program this spring is Kathryn (Kat) Luginbuhl of Bluffton High School (Bluffton, Ohio). With Yoder, Luginbuhl adds to the much-needed depth in the midfield for Goshen.
“Kats arrival at Goshen gives us a player that has experience at pretty much every position on the field and I expect that we will be able to use her in a number of different places,” Franklin said. “It is exciting for us to sign another player with outside midfield experience who feels comfortable there. We have lacked depth in the position for several years and it will allow us to move others around to their more natural positions as we continue to improve our level of play.”
Luginbuhl was a four-year letter winner and served as one of her team’s captains in her senior year while at Bluffton, being voted as the Most Valuable Offensive Player in both her junior and senior seasons. She was selected as an All-Northwest Ohio District Honorable Mention player in her junior year and All-Northwest Ohio District Second Team in her senior year while competing in Ohio’s Division II level. She was chosen to play in the All-District game following her senior year, and has also played with the West Central United club team in Ohio.
“Kat is another outstanding student-athlete who received numerous accolades in the classroom and on the soccer field,” Mounsithiraj said. “Kat is a very skillful player who is deceptively fast with the ball. I look for her to make an immediate contribution to the team as an attacking outside midfielder. Her club experience and speed will definitely elevate our outside play.”
Luginbuhl led her team in goals during her senior campaign, scoring 11 of their total 28 goals while tallying five assists. For her career, Luginbuhl finished as Bluffton’s fifth-best career goal scorer (28 goals) and fifth-best career assist getter (17), earning her a total of 73 career points — good for fourth in the Bluffton record books.
“I am excited to attend Goshen College this fall,” Luginbuhl said. “Upon entering the campus, I immediately felt like I was at a home away from home. I wanted to choose a Mennonite school because of my values and my upbringing in faith and Goshen really stood out in terms of friendliness and welcome to me, not only on campus, but also on the women’s soccer team. I am looking forward to building relationships, playing at the college level, and being part of such a close-knit team.”
A standout in the classroom, Luginbuhl boasts a current grade point average is 3.75 and will graduate as a member of the National Honor Society. She also received Bluffton’s Academic Letter and Scholastic Award in each of her four years, honors given to outstanding students and student-athletes, respectively. Luginbuhl’s teammates voted her to this season’s Pirate Award, which is given to the player who is ‘Most Exemplary of what a Bluffton Soccer Player Should Be On and Off the Field’. A post-secondary student at Bluffton University during her senior year at Bluffton High School, Luginbuhl was also an active member in her church youth group, spending two weeks on a service trip to Honduras last summer.
“Academically, I want to focus on majoring in either art or communications,” she said. “I was impressed with Goshen’s art department and its accomplished professors and varied resources. Goshen is unique because of their SST program. I think it is a fabulous learning experience to have the opportunity to study and serve abroad. In the next four years I hope to grow spiritually as a student-athlete at Goshen College.”
Finalizing the Leafs’ initial recruiting efforts is Chelsey Graber, a 2007 graduate of Sarasota Christian High School (Sarasota, Fla.). An attacking midfielder, the 5-9 Graber was a four-year starter for her high school team. Franklin said she will instantly bring both athleticism and strength to the field for Goshen.
“Chelsey is a naturally-gifted athlete who will step in and be one of our most athletic players on the field,” Franklin said. “She is a leader who has a bright future ahead of her. I expect Chelsey to thrive at Goshen as she should have no problems adjusting with so many friends and family already here, including her older brother Brad who is a member of the Goshen men’s soccer team. I am excited to see what Chelsey will accomplish both athletically and academically during her time at Goshen College.”
Graber stated the main reason for choosing Goshen as being family-related: She will be the 23rd member of her family to attend Goshen College, and has extended family living in Goshen. Those factors helped Graber to multiple campus visits, furthering her desire to attend the familiar institution.
“After visiting I really felt that Goshen College would be the perfect college for me,” Graber said. “I was also excited about the women’s soccer team. I had the opportunity to play with some of the girls this winter in an indoor tournament and I loved playing with them. I am so excited for the season to start. I can’t wait for the team to get together. It is great to have Yaneth and Bethany coming in as well as some other strong and talented freshmen. This year is the beginning of a new era for the Goshen College soccer program, I believe we will continue to grow stronger each year. I am so excited to be a part of it.”
Graber started playing with her high school’s varsity team as a sixth grader and continued through her senior year. She was a two-year captain and was the recipient of the Coaches Award as well as being the MVP in both her junior and senior seasons. Following her senior season, Graber was invited to play on the region and state all-star teams, being voted captain in both instances. She is currently playing for her club team, the Sarasota Storm.
“Chelsey has been very successful both on the soccer field and in the classroom throughout her high school career,” Mounsithiraj said. “She was able to lead her team to the state regional tournament in her senior year. Chelsey is very strong in the air and has an ability to score from long range. Her athleticism, leadership and physical presence will certainly enhance an already strong recruiting class.”
The Leafs will be returning nine players with starting experience and eleven with extended playing time in 2006, looking to improve while putting an emphasis on being more competitive in the Mid-Central Conference.
“With added depth and experience next year we will only continue to get better and be more competitive in our conference,” Franklin said.
Experience will likely be an important factor to future success, as Goshen started seven freshmen at times throughout the ‘06 season, with five of those freshmen starting in every game along with two sophomores. Five of the team’s 11 losses came by scores of 0-1, while the Leafs played in three overtime games — two going to double-overtime — and lost a heartbreaker to Concordia University in the last possible seconds (click here for related article). The Leafs were able to tally 20 goals in 2006 after only scoring nine a year earlier, while the team allowed only 27 scores, a dramatic improvement after giving up 42 goals in 2005. The Leafs will return four of their five starting defenders, Amy Clem (current sophomore), Emmy Gibson (current sophomore), Allison Yoder (current freshman) and Liz Nafziger (current freshman), while losing senior sweeper Hannah Eash. Goshen also returns leading goal scorer and assist getter forward Kaylee Pichardo, seven goals and three assists.
Check back to this website for continual program updates and off-season news, including future recruiting information and signings.
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Heather Zimmerman 
