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C-M’s Roman will call Seton Hall home

5 min read
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Everything changed for Addie Roman after she broke a scoreless tie in overtime that allowed the Canon-McMillan girls’ soccer team to win the PIAA Class AAAA title in a frigid Hersheypark Stadium.

Her game-winner touched off another flurry of colleges trying to get in on the recruiting process.

When she and her family exited their car in South Orange, N.J., the sophomore forward didn’t have to take many more steps before knowing where she wanted to spend the four years following high school.

Roman, who scored 20 goals and added 12 assists for the Big Macs in 2016, verbally committed to play soccer at Seton Hall University.

“The second I stepped on campus, I loved it,” Roman said. “I had people constantly asking me and for a long time I had no idea who my favorite was until I had an immediate good feeling with Seton Hall.”

That feeling of being at a home away from home only intensified after meeting Pirates head coach Rick Stainton, who reminded Roman of C-M head coach Dave Derrico. It reminded her of the past several years with her travel team, the Beadling Soccer Club based in Mt. Lebanon.

“He’s such a great person and brings out the best in the school,” Roman said about her future head coach. “He has coached a lot of girls who have been on the national team and knows what it takes at the next level. Most importantly, he knows how to push people and make them better. That’s something I love because I’m always looking for that improvement.”

As the huge list of 40 schools Roman was considering was shrinking, so did the burden of where she was going to college.

It was pressure Roman had to consistently deal with over the past year.

“Honestly, it was very difficult,” she said. “I had people constantly asking me and I felt stressed at times thinking about something that was 2 ½ years away. Right after it happened, I felt so relieved to know who my coach would be, have a timeline for myself and just a lot of weight off my shoulders. It’s going to be so nice to play and strictly be focused on that rather than what colleges are going to be there.”

The pressure of performing under the brightest lights isn’t something Roman has shied away from after realizing she could provide assistance to a C-M team that lost to Central Bucks West in the state finals in 2014.

It was about Derrico meshing her talents with those of more senior teammates, including Sabrina Bryan and Aideen O’Donoghue, who are playing at Hostfra University and the University of Pittsburgh, respectively.

“I didn’t think of myself as a sophomore or even being the young one,” Roman said. “I just knew I was expected to produce. Having that talent around me, we were able to rely on each other. It was a long season. It gets stressful at times when you have something every single day after school and it can become difficult to deal with both physically and emotionally. You have to love it in order to do what I’m doing (playing soccer year around). That’s the difference between good players and great players. I love it.”

The first phone call came in around noon on Monday for Alexa Williamson.

Her phone didn’t stop ringing after that.

Following the call from the University of Massachusetts, Williamson’s phone continued ringing throughout the day with colleges offering the 6-1 junior forward an opportunity to play at the next level. Williamson has yet to choose a school but is deep into the process.

Seton Hall, Saint Joseph’s and Xavier each offered Williamson, whose return from an ACL injury was nearly impeccable this past season. She averaged 23 points, 12.5 rebounds and four blocked shots per game to lead Chartiers-Houston to the school’s first WPIAL Championship.

“I felt like working out in the summer prior to our season really allowed me to strengthen my knee,” Williamson said. “It allowed me to get back to where I was before but took me a few games to get really comfortable. When I finally got back to normal, I realized the hard work paid off.”

Those schools join Youngstown State University, which reached out prior to Williamson’s shortened sophomore season; Akron University and the University of Pittsburgh on the offer list.

“I was terrified,” Williamson said about thinking about what the injury might do to her future. “I was afraid that once colleges found out, they wouldn’t want me.”

Williamson recorded two triple-doubles but saved her most productive games for the end of the year, scoring 22 points and 13 rebounds in the WPIAL championship game against Vincentian Academy. She scored a career-high 35 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a PIAA playoff loss to Bellwood Antis.

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