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www.insideHALTON.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Friday, February 8, 2013 · 20 Seven OSC players commit to university programs Seven members of the Oakville Soccer Club's under-21 girls' team have already confirmed they will be playing university soccer next season. Stefanie Barcelos, Meara Johnson, Claudia Piazza and Rebecca Pongetti announced their commitments to NCAA programs on Wednesday, the NCAA's official letter of intent signing day. Donika Murray and Maddie Maurice have verbally accepted NCAA scholarship offers, and Marlee Maracle has accepted a CIS scholarship. Barcelos, a center midfielder, will attend Eastern Michigan. She represented Portugal in the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship last year and is expected to suit up for international friendlies next month. Barcelos won U15 and U16 Ontario Cup titles and a national club U16 championship with the Erin Mills Mighty Eagles, and in 2011 she helped Team Ontario win gold at the national U16 championships. Johnson, bound for Mississippi State, is a keeper who played for the Toronto Lynx U20 team last season. Before joining the OSC, she won a U13 Ontario Cup title and earned U15 silver at the Ontario Summer Games as a member of Brams United. Piazza is a defensive midfielder who will suit up next season for Toledo. She was a teammate of Johnson's on the U13 Ontario Cup champion and U15 Ontario Summer Games silver medalist Brams United teams, and won a Peel Region high school junior girls' soccer title with Brampton's Cardinal Leger Secondary School. Pongetti, a center midfielder, will attend Louisiana State. The Hamilton St. Thomas More student represented Canada at the FIFA U17 Women's World Cup in Azerbaijan this past fall. In 2011, Pongetti helped the Ontario U16 team to gold at the national championships in 2011 and was named the OSC's outstanding female player of the year. Murray has verbally committed to attend Rhode Island, Maurice has accepted a scholarship at Alabama Huntsville and Maracle will attend the University of British Columbia. Other members of the OSC's U21 girls' squad may still play CIS soccer next season, since Canadian universities do not have a letter of intent signing deadline. "I know all of these players personally and I can attest to the fact that they represent the best of what we strive to achieve with the high performance stream within our club," said OSC technical director Dino Lopez. "All of the players show excellence on the field, as well as character and integrity off the field. It's no accident that they are moving on to play soccer at the collegiate level." MICHAEL IVANIN / SPECIAL TO THE OAKVILLE BEAVER COMMITTED: Pictured left to right, Oakville Soccer Club under-21 players Stefanie Barcelos, Claudia Piazza, Rebecca Pongetti and Marlee Maracle have committed to university teams for next season.