47 James Robinson, coach, Hawaii. Robinson has had two very successful years as the Associate Head Coach before taking over the helm from Maureen Cole this year. He was selected as the nation’s top assistant coach in 2024 and has won three National Championships at UCLA as a player. UCLA seems to spin off excellent coaches and in think that Robinson will follow suit.
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Team 1
(1) Lauren Steele, goalie, UCLA. NCAA champion on an undefeated team, 1st team All-American, and ACWPC player of the year in what would have been the spring semester of her senior year in high school. It seems safe to say we will never see a feat like that again.
(12) Anna Pearson, center, UCLA. A potential 2028 Olympian. It helps to play for a coach who knows how to develop centers and knows what to do with excellent centers when he has them. Pearson was an honorable mention All-American in her freshman year in 2023 and a 1st team All-American in 2024.
(13) Juliette Dhalluin, LH attacker, Stanford. As in the men’s college game, there aren’t many really good LH attackers on the women’s side. Dhalluin was a 3rd team All-American as a freshman for Arizona State in 2023 and played for France in the 2024 Olympics. With her Stanford teammates Ryan Neushul, Jewel Roemer, and Jenna Flynn, Dhalluin is part of the only college team that has or had four reigning Olympic attackers.
(24) Rozanne Voorvelt, center defender, Cal. Voorvelt, an underrated player, was an honorable mention All-American last year and helped lead Cal’s excellent defense. She is also a threat on the offensive end. Voorvelt has played for various Dutch national teams.
(25) Taylor Smith, attacker, UCLA. Last year, Smith was a 3rd team All-American and UCLA’s 3rd leading scorer.
(36) Ruth Arino Ruiz, attacker, LMU. Ruiz was a 2nd team All-American and the GCC Player of the Year in 2024, scoring 81 goals and recording 60 assists. She was an honorable mention All-American in 2023. LMU could surprise some teams this year.
(37) Sinia Plotz, center defender/attacker, USC. Plotz transferred to USC from San Jose State after last season. She scored 74 goals in her two years at San Jose State and was an honorable mention All-American in 2024. She has played on various German national teams.
(48) Chris Segesman, coach, Mater Dei. It probably won’t happen but I’d like to see Segesman coach at the college level. Segesman and John Roemer would be great choices to take over the UCSB women’s team. Segesman would also be a strong candidate at USC if they make a change after this season.
Team 2 will be called the Aussie Tigers due to the fact that I have three Australians and 3 Princeton Tigers on my team.
2 Tilly Kearns, Center, USC. I think that Kears is, by far and away, the best player at the most important field position. She is a two-time Cutino Award finalist and at 25 years old, has lots of experience to lead a young USC team.
11 Sienna Green, 2MD, UCLA. I will go with another Aussie Olympian in 6’ 4” Sienna Green. I think that I now have the best center and the best 2MD defender in the country which gives me a very strong base to build upon.
14 Lindsay Lucas, goalie, Princeton. Steele would have been my first pick, but I think that Lucas is the second best goalie. She does not have the defense behind her that UCLA or Stanford has, but she is super talented and can win games on her own.
23 Elena Flynn, attacker, Cal. Flynn is in her sixth year and brings a ton of experience to the table. She was second on Cal with 44 goals last year. With the graduation of Dempsey, Cal will rely on her even more this year. There are not many great shooters in college, but Elena Flynn is definitely one of them.
26 Kayla Yelensky, attacker, Princeton. Yelensky led Princeton with 69 goals last year and should get a lot of good looks this year with the attention that Sekulic will get in the middle.
35 Millie Quin, attacker, ASU. Quin scored 73 goals and had a total of 115 points, both good for 2nd place in the MPSF. With the graduation of Petrovary, ASU will rely on her even more this year.
38 Rachael Carver, attacker, Princeton. I have high hopes for Princeton this year and Carver will have to have another big year if they are going to make it to the Final Four. She has compiled over 100 goals and 200 assists in her first three years and is as good of a passer as there is in college.
47 James Robinson, coach, Hawaii. Robinson has had two very successful years as the Associate Head Coach before taking over the helm from Maureen Cole this year. He was selected as the nation’s top assistant coach in 2024 and has won three National Championships at UCLA as a player. UCLA seems to spin off excellent coaches and in think that Robinson will follow suit.
I think that Stanford will win the NCAA Championship this year with UCLA, USC and Princeton joining them in the Final Four. Stanford will cruise into the finals over Princeton and the other semi-final of UCLA vs USC will be a flip of the coin.
I think that the Cutino finalists will come down to Kearns, Neushel and Steele. As others have mentioned, Steele should have won the award last year. I will give Neushel the nod since Stanford is my pick to win it all. As is almost always the case, the winning team’s coach ends up with the coach of the year award, so I will go with Tanner here too. I will go against the grain and pick goalie Carpenter over the favorite Ausmus as my pick for MPSF newcomer of the year and to complete a Stanford sweep.
- Jenna Flynn
- Emily Ausmus
- Ava Stryker
- Bernadette Doyle
- Maggie Hawkins
- Adam Wright — Coach
- Serena Browne
- Talia Fonseca — GK Cal: Not sure if she will be the starter there or not, but I think she is a pretty talented goalie that will improve dramatically as her career goes on.
Had to change my last pick due to needing a goalie, thought I had one more but I didn’t 
My team here would have a ton of speed and firepower from the perimeter and would do well with Adam Wright coaching his high speed offenses.
I do think Stanford will win, but I think USC will be better than most people think and will be the other finalist.
Jenna Flynn will win player of the year Cutino award and I think Cassie Churnside of Michigan will be the Coach of the Year as Michigan moves themselves deep into the top 10. If Emily Ausmus is considered a newcomer, she should win that award.
Team Name: Los Angeles Thorns
The name is one part because the Eaton wildfires going through Altadena and Pasadena home of the Rose Bowl (get it, thorns on a rose) have been on my mind a lot so this Draft has been a nice reprieve/escape for me. Los Angeles is also due in part to the majority of my roster having Southern California/LA County roots or are UCLA Bruins (or both).
4, Bia Mantellato Dias, Center, UCLA
She is an incredible Center and regardless of Wahine or Bruin, goalkeepers have been impressed by the power on her shot.
9, Ella Woodhead, Defender, Stanford
a year of National Team experience will be great for her and having a strong Center needs to be matched with a strong defender
16, Emma Lineback, LH Attacker, UCLA
She has taken a year off from college water polo to train with the senior team but prior to this she had established herself as a lefty with great vision, a sharp shot, and defensive IQ. I really hope she makes a bigger statement coming back into the college game
21, Hailey Andress, Attacker, Fresno State
This athlete is remarkable in her ability to score in scenarios that have no business being so. There’s a reason why she has reached the pinnacle of a young program and I give Natalie credit for getting the most and best out of her
28, Sophia Bunnell, Goalkeeper, Michigan
Insider knowledge informed me about Casey not signing her to USC when she was all in, and I think that was a serious mistake. She has had a really great club career winning three Junior Olympic titles and a runner up finish. She was invited to the Senior Team training camp in December for the World Cup Roster, and when the moment counts she is someone who can make hero saves. I think she will have a strong career at Michigan and Cassie will rely on her a lot if they want to get back to the NCAA tournament
33, Brooke Ochoa, Utility, Fresno State
Third leading goal scorer in 2024, has had opportunities to play in the USA pipeline and she is an ideal Utility in that she demonstrates why she can be the best 2 Meter player and best Attacker for the Bulldogs. On the team I have she can bring great vision to the right side, a strong outside shot left working with Hailey and create a double post up situation with Bia
40, Natalie Benson, Head Coach, Fresno State
My team has players who are well known and some who fly under the radar; so it makes sense to have a coach who can recognize their potential/abilities and get the best and most out of them. Tactically, Benson can also have this team align with most of the plays/systems she utilizes
45, Roni Perlman, Attacker, Hawaii
This was tough as I had strongly considered selecting another lefty. However, what Roni brings to the Right Side is simply too hard to pass up. She was relied upon a lot by the Rainbow Wahine for her vision at 5 spot, her reads in counterattack and her constant driving offense. She also has great driver defense to defend the left side and would make for the ideal glue player to set her teammates up and work in tandem with Brooke for creating scoring opportunities for this lineup. I would like to see her make All-Big West for the sheer amount of effort she brings to set up those around her
National Champion: it’s too close to call as I do believe the depth of UCLA and Stanford will propel them to the finals. With NCAAs in Indianapolis, I have a feeling we could see history repeat itself with Stanford beating UCLA by one. Goalkeeping will be HUGE as goalies cannot win you games but they sure can lose you some too. While the Bruins have strong Centers and strong lefties (Becca Melanson stepped up a lot last season and it’s disappointing she wasn’t picked), Stanford has some incredible outside shooters and players coming off of senior team who are hungry for a championship.
I think USC will make Final Four but I have also been told of a lot team dynamics could potentially hold them back. The question of goalkeeper could potentially be a dealbreaker in big games. And although Tilly Kearns is incredible, a supporting cast with a strong depth chart always counts for something.
Head Coach of the Year: I will give this one to Tanner. I do think Assistant Coach of the Year will likely go to a team that has had a standout run (e.g., Fordham was undefeated going into semifinals a first for an East Coast team and their assistant coach was named ACOTY).
Player of the Year: On paper, my bet is on Neaushul especially since she could be the first player to win four National Titles since the UCLA Class of 2009.
Newcomer of the Year: Emily Ausmus is the most obvious choice here, but if Sophia Bunnell gets the starting nod at Michigan and gives them a prolific run past Princeton and into semifinal territory that would be WILD (I can dream, lol)
Team name- “Both Coasts”
What makes my team unique is that all my players are from different colleges from both the East and West coasts
5 Jovana Sekulic, Center- Princeton. 2024 Olympian & 2022 & 2023 All American.
8 Christine Carpenter, Goalie- Stanford. I predict Christine will be a USA olympic goalie in the future with Lauren Steele.
17 Julia Bonaguidi, Attacker- Cal. Recently played for the USA Senior National Team.
20 Nicole Struss, Defender- UCLA Strong defender. I have watched her dominate since her age group polo days.
29 Carlota Alonso Wagner, Attacker- Wagner. Spanish player was leading goal scorer for Wagner last season.
32 Ella Palmer, Utility- Brown. Leading goal scorer for Brown last season. Member of New Zealand’s Senior National Team.
41 Sofia Umeda, Utility USC. Incoming Freshman who was a standout player at OLu HS. I expect her to be a dominant force at USC.
44 John Roemer, Coach. While John is currently a HS coach with his experience as JC coach, he would be a great 4 year college coach.
NCAA championship will be won by wither UCLA or Stanford. It could go either way
The top 4 will be UCLA, Stanford and Cal. (Unless an upset by Princeton.)
Cutino Award finalists will be Ryann Neushul, Lauren Steele, and Jovana Sekulic
Cutino Award winner Ryann Neushul if Stanford wins. Lauren Steele if UCLA wins (She should have won last year.)
MPSF newcomer of the year will be Emily Ausmus
ACWPC coach of the year will be John Tanner if Stanford Wins. Adam Wright if UCLA wins.
My thanks to everyone who participated in our 2025 women’s college draft. I think there were more talented players to choose from this year than in any other year of our draft. Here’s a list showing where the 42 players selected go to college:
Stanford – 9
UCLA – 7
USC – 6
Cal – 5
Princeton – 4
Hawaii – 3
Fresno State – 3
Arizona State – 1
Michigan – 1
Loyola Marymount – 1
Brown – 1
Wagner – 1
Here’s a team comprised of eight players from schools that are not represented above. For this team, I chose not to select more than one player from any school:
Ines Sanchez, goalie, Marist, honorable mention All-American in 2024
Nioka Thomas, center, U.C. Irvine. Thomas did not play during the 2024 season because she was training with the Australian senior national team. She was a 2nd team All-American in 2023.
Kendall Thomas, center, UCSD, 3x All-American
Martina Cardona – attacker, LBSU, honorable mention All-American in 2023 and 2024
Ruby Hodge, attacker, Harvard, honorable mention All-American in 2024
Skylar Kidd, attacker, Indiana, honorable mention All-American in 2024
Dora Alaksza, attacker, Pacific, 1st team All-Golden Coast Conference in 2024, scoring 93 goals
Claudia Valdes, attacker, San Diego State, 1st team All-Golden Coast Conference in 2024, scoring 76 goals and recording 40 assists, 42 steals, and 22 blocks
Here are my predictions for the 2025 season:
NCAA champions: Stanford or UCLA. I give a slight edge to Stanford because Panni Szegedi decided not to return to UCLA for her sophomore year.
Other semifinalists: USC and Cal. USC will finish the season ranked No. 3; Cal will be ranked No. 4
Not counting the play-in game, the other four schools making the NCAA tournament will be: Princeton (will finish the season ranked No. 5), the winner of the Big West Conference (Hawaii or U.C. Irvine), the winner of the Golden Coast Conference (Fresno State or LMU), and Wagner.
Cutino Award Winner: Ryann Neushul if Stanford wins the NCAA tournament; Lauren Steele if UCLA wins
Cutino Award Finalists: Neushul, Steele, and Tilly Kearns
MPSF Newcomer of the Year: Emily Ausmus
Coach of the Year: John Tanner if Stanford wins the NCAA tournament; Adam Wright if UCLA wins
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