On Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015, Quakertown seniors Erinne Finlayson and Linzi Wolfe were recognized at a special news conference for committing to play soccer at the collegiate level. To view photos of the event, please visit the Photo Gallery: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/g/021915_signings_mjs
“These two girls are outstanding young ladies and are a credit to their parents,” coach Mike Koch said. “We had a great run a couple of years prior to this year, and it was led by these two (girls) and some other players. They had some great accomplishments on the field. Each of the last three seasons, they were on the Suburban One all-league teams.
“It’s been an absolute pleasure to be able to coach these girls to a couple of district playoff runs, but probably their true character showed this year when the success wasn’t as great and the leadership was required to keep the team fighting and playing hard when the wins weren’t there and the season drug on. Sometimes those seasons you get to the point where you almost don’t want to be there, but through their leadership, they kept us encouraged, kept the team up, and we competed all the time. We tied the team (Central Bucks West) that won the state championship ultimately. We competed against a really good Pennridge team, and that’s a credit to these two. I’m so happy to see them go on and continue their success in soccer, but I will miss them being with us. I’m honored to have the opportunity to coach them.”
Erinne Finlayson – Montclair State University (Soccer)
Major: Television Production
Final list of colleges: Montclair, Kean, American, Syracuse, Charlestown Southern
Reasons for choosing Montclair: “I wanted to stay kind of close to home, but I wanted to be far enough away, and I thought an hour and a half or two hours was a pretty good distance. They have a really good soccer program, and their coach is really nice. I knew I wanted to do something technology based. I looked at graphic design, I looked at television – I wanted to do something in digital journalism, and Montclair is known for its English program and its technology based majors, so that definitely stood out.
“The college actually started recruiting me my sophomore year, and I committed the summer going into senior year. They’ve been in the picture from the beginning.”
What was the progression that led you to playing soccer at the collegiate level? “I have always wanted to play in college. It’s been a goal since I started playing club soccer in eighth grade. I played on Lehigh Valley United for a while, and the goal of that team was to get every girl on that team committed to college. We went to a lot of showcases, and just about every girl is going to play in college.”
Coach Mike Koch says: “With Erin, leadership is a big thing – she was a big leader. We had a lot of success their sophomore and junior years and not so much last year, and they could have bailed – I’ve seen that happen before. Erinne was very much about keeping everybody positive, keeping them engaged, keeping the team competing.
“As a player, she’s a master technician in the goal, and she’ll come up with these outstanding crazy saves. She makes big time saves, and she definitely won us some games.”
About Erinne:
Favorite food: Brownies
Favorite movie: Divergent
Favorite music: Country
Linzi Wolfe – West Chester University (Soccer)
Major: Undecided
Final list of colleges: West Chester, Bloomsburg
Reasons for choosing West Chester: “For my club team, my coach wanted us to e-mail a bunch of teams before we went to the college showcase tournaments. My high school coach was a huge part of it – he convinced me. He said, ‘West Chester has a great program.’ (Their coach) came and watched me, and he wanted me. I visited the school - I went to a clinic, met all the girls and ended up loving it. It was a perfect fit.”
What was the progression that led you to playing soccer at the collegiate level? “I didn’t know I wanted to play soccer until a little bit later. At first, I thought I just wanted to focus on my academics, but I was talking to my mom, and my mom made me realize I’m always happy when I’m playing soccer. Thinking about not playing soccer anymore – I think I need to play soccer to stay sane and happy. I even think it will help my academics because I’ll be doing something, and I’ll know I have to do my schoolwork at a certain time.”
Coach Mike Koch says: “Linzi was voted first team all-league this year for the second time even though we didn’t have a great season, so that’s the impression she made on the coaches in the league.
“She’s really tall, she’s incredibly fast and very deft with her feet at finding a ball. The two things she did as well as anybody in high school around this year were cross a ball and head a ball. If I could have had her cross to herself and head it, we would have had a lot more goals.”
About Linzi:
Favorite food: Cucumbers
Favorite movie: The Harry Potter Series
Favorite music: Pop & Rap
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