Carley Rice
Rice began training with AM in 2008 as an 8th grader. Her natural talent developed immensely, allowing her to play on the state soccer team as a sophomore and junior at Gull Lake and train with the Olympic Development Program. She was a four-year letter winner and two-year captain with one state championship under her belt, so she had substantial leadership experience entering the collegiate level at Detroit Mercy.
Training for NCAA Division 1 competition isn’t an imaginable feat until you’re placed in the position. Competition wasn’t solely for opponents now; Rice understood that in order to consistently make the starting squad, she had to go beyond.
Her hard work paid off rather quickly, as Rice saw time in all 20 matches her freshman year with eight starts. She entered her sophomore year with two assists, looking for further improvement. In 2014, she started 15 games and made her first collegiate goal in a victory against Bowling Green.
In addition to her climbing success as a collegiate athlete, Rice maintains a 4.0 GPA in pre-dental/pre-pharmacy.
The Detroit Mercy women’s soccer team finished second in the Horizon League conference this year, making their first appearance in the championship game since 2006. Watch Rice and the Titans next year as she enters her junior year strong.
Kendra Sosnoski
Sosnoski carries on the tradition of being a Michigan Tech Husky (her father played football), so she was aware of what it took to be a Division II athlete. She left high school as an all-conference, all-district and all-area player, a former MVP and senior co-captain of the same Gull Lake championship squad Harma and Rice were on.
Sosnoski plays on the Husky defense, and is majoring in biology. Their 2014 year finished well, with a confident winning record and a trip to the NCAA tournament. Look for her training through the rest of 2015 for her third year at Michigan Tech.