College update: Verso leads FC Golden Force into postseason

The following are updates of local athletes at the collegiate level.

Mark Verso (St. Francis High, 2013) FC Golden State Force: Playing in the Premier Development League for the FC Golden State Force, Verso has been a force.

Verso has tallied 13 goals, which leads the Force and is tied for second in the PDL.

The Force (8-4-2) is headed to the second round of the PDL playoffs on Friday against Calgary Foothills FC. In its playoff opener, the Force defeated San Diego Zest FC, 3-2, on Tuesday. Verso scored the go-ahead goal in the second half before the Zest tied it and the Force won it late.

Tuesday’s contest was the sixth straight game in which Verso scored a goal. His 13 goals have come in just nine games and he’s scored 12 over the last six, with hat tricks on July 16 against the Southern California Seahorses and on July 1 against the OC Blues U23, the latter garnering him PDL player of the week honors.

Overall, Verso has 13 goals and one assist.

An incoming senior forward at Stanford, Verso won a NCAA Division I championship with the Cardinal last season.

Kayla Mills (Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, 2013) USC soccer: Mills earned plenty of honors in her time at Flintridge Sacred Heart, from All-Mission League to All-Area to All-CIF.

It’s been much the same for the incoming senior as a USC Trojan, with All-American and All-Pac-12 accolades.

As a member of the United States Under-23 National Team, she’s also drawing acclaim during the summer.

On Tuesday, TopDrawerSoccer.com released an article ranking the top five defenders on the U.S. women’s national team and Mills was listed at the top. It comes after a May article in which Mills was listed as one of the top 10 defenders in NCAA Division I soccer.

“The California native is almost certainly the nation’s top outside back,” the latter article stated.

As a member of the national team, Mills has helped the United States win the Istria Cup in Croatia in March and the Nordic Tournament in England in June.

Mills has played in four of the team’s matches with three starts and tallied one assist. The United States is 5-0-2.

Jackson Sigman (Glendale Community College, 2014) Santa Barbara Foresters: Sigman hasn’t played all that much for the Foresters, but he’s been borderline spotless when he has.

The West Virginia University product has yet to give up a run or a walk in seven appearances covering 8 1/3 innings. His 0.00 earned-run average is complemented by 13 strikeouts to no walks with just four hits allowed.

In his last appearance against the host Conejo Oaks on Saturday, Sigman threw 1 1/3 innings with one hit allowed and two strikeouts.

Heading into Thursday’s game against the Oaks, the Foresters were 24-12 and 17-10 in the California Collegiate League.

Ryan McAleenan (St. Francis High, 2012) UNLV football: After a stellar junior season at linebacker for the Rebels, McAleenan will go into his senior campaign as a preseason All-Mountain West Conference selection.

Phil Steele’s listed McAleenan as a third-team pick and Athlon named him to the fourth team in mid-June.

McAleenan led the Rebels with 85 tackles as a junior. He was also the conference defensive player of the week on Oct. 3 in a 23-17 win over Nevada, Reno in which he had six tackles, a sack and a 52-yard interception return for a touchdown.

The performance garnered him the university’s Bill Ireland Award on June 2.

The award “is given annually to a student-athlete who shines brightest in their respective sport while competing against Nevada, Reno as part of the Governor’s Series presented by NV Energy and Barrick Gold,” according to the school website. In its fourth year of existence, the award was given for the first time to a football player.

McAleenan and UNLV open up the 2016 season at home on Sept. 1 against Jackson State before the former All-Area performer returns home to play at UCLA on Sept. 10.