Breeana Koemans counted among nation’s best
Even as she’s moved onto the next stage of her life as a student-athlete, honors continue to follow Breeana Koemans for her many accomplishments as a high school soccer player.
The Northeastern University freshman and 2012 Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy graduate was named to the National Soccer Coaches Assn. of America High School All America team for 2012 on Monday, capping a senior season that also saw her named Mission League Most Valuable Player and 2012 All-Area Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year.
“I was pretty shocked, since I’m done with my first semester of college,” Koemans said. “Even the award was surprising, I had no idea.”
A four-year all-league mainstay at forward on a Tologs squad that captured the first CIF Southern Section Division I title in program history in 2011, Koemans shouldered the heaviest load her senior year when she was asked to lead a Sacred Heart squad hit hard by injuries.
With every opponent on the Tologs’ rugged schedule concentrating their defensive focus against her, Koemans remained a reliable sparkplug of the offense, tallying 15 goals and 12 assists and leading Sacred Heart to a runner-up finish in league despite a constantly fluctuating lineup.
“Looking back on [my senior year] I think our defense was covered and we lost our offensive players, so the chemistry wasn’t really there,” Koemans said. “But I think the stressful thing was just trying to get used to playing with different players.”
The defending-champion Tologs were defeated in overtime in the first round of the CIF playoffs, yet Koemans still garnered a selection to the All-CIF Division I first team.
Koemans, who finished her Tologs career with 54 goals and a school-record 47 assists, was one of 40 forwards selected to the 81-member team of players from 32 states, which also included five goalkeepers, six defenders and 30 midfielders. She was one of just four players selected from California.
“This is a well deserved honor for Breeana,” Sacred Heart associate coach Frank Pace, who was Koemans’ head coach in high school, stated in a press release. “She was part of a very special team of girls who worked hard for every game they won and every award they earned on and off the field.
“Breeana was the first one on the practice field and the last one to leave, every day for four years. She’s proof again that there is no substitute for hard work.”
Koemans is currently looking to work her way back to the field for her sophomore season with the Huskies after her freshman campaign was scuttled by a broken foot suffered in an exhibition game in August. After a medical redshirt this season, Koemans looks forward to making her official Northeastern debut next fall.