DePaul women’s soccer secures deep and diverse 14-player signing class

CHICAGO – DePaul women’s soccer head coach Michele O’Brien announced the Blue Demons’ 2023 signing class. DePaul welcomes 14 newcomers for the upcoming fall 2023 season.

The incoming class includes 12 freshmen and two transfers who will team up with the returning 16 players from last season. Out of the returning 16, transfers Ryan Skall and Grace Menser joined the Blue Demons this past winter and participated in the teams spring 2023 matches.

“We are very excited about this group of talented, young women who are extremely passionate about DePaul and our soccer program,” said head coach O’Brien. “They are not only solid soccer players, but wonderful people who will make our program stronger and complement our current team very well. We are looking forward to the contributions they will make and are excited to get started.”

Lea Bartling | Freshman | Arminia Bielefeld | Verl, Germany

Bartling comes to Chicago from Germany having played for her club team, Armenia Bielefeld, where she aided in her teams’ two championship wins. Bartling went to Gymnasium Verl for high school where she also collected another two championship wins on the soccer team.

Jimena Vicario Casal | Freshman | CD Parquesol | Valladolid, Spain

Vicario Casal comes to Chicago from Spain with multiple caps and a World Championship already under her belt. In 2022, the goalkeeper aided in Spain’s U17 Women’s FIFA World Cup victory. Vicario Casal has been playing soccer for 10 years and currently plays for the club team CD Parquesol.

Shayna da Silva | Freshman | Eclipse Select Soccer Club | Evanston, Ill.

Da Silva is an incoming freshman who played for Eclipse Select Soccer Club and starred as a varsity soccer player at Evanston Township High School. This past fall, da Silva made All-Conference, All-Sectional and All-State Ten for Chicagoland Soccer.

Nahla Dominguez | Sophomore | Chicago State University | Evanston, Ill.

Dominguez joins the Blue Demons as a sophomore transfer from Chicago State, where she played in 16 games with nine starts as a midfielder. She logged 985 minutes on the pitch her first year and put up 12 shots with six shots on goal.

Lea Eisenring | Freshman | FC St. Gallen U19 | Wittenbach, Switzerland

Eisenring comes to Chicago from Switzerland, where she played for the FC St. Gallen U19 team. In her most recent season, the forward put up nine goals and generated nine assists. She appeared in the 2023 UEFA European Women’s U19 Championship for Switzerland where she played in all three matches and logged 114 minutes on the pitch.

Tessa Fagerson | Freshman | Eclipse Select Soccer Club | Plainfield, Ill.

Fagerson joins the Blue Demons from Plainfield North high school where she played varsity soccer all four years. Her senior year, she earned a place in the Plainfield North Hall of Fame, was named All-Conference, All-Sectional, All-Area, All-State, First Team All-State, SPC MVP, an Athlete of the Year Nominee, Golden Boot and April Athlete of the month. The incoming freshman played club for Eclipse Select Soccer Club.

Danielle Fjeldsted | Freshman | Sockers FC Chicago | Hawthorn Woods, Ill.

Fjeldsted played for Sockers FC Chicago. During her time with the cub, the incoming freshman attended the All Girls Academy Showcase. When she played for the U17 Team, Fjeldsted helped the team reach Girls Academy Playoffs and helped the  U19 team to an undefeated fall season. Her U19 team also ranked No.1 in the Overall Girls Academy and made it to the Champions League. Fjeldsted was invited to the Youth National Team Identification Center in both 2017 and 2018. She attended high school at Adlai E. Stevenson, where she made the honor roll all four years.

Mya Gardner | Freshman | Eclipse Select Soccer Club | Batavia, Ill.

Gardner played soccer for Eclipse Select Soccer Club from 2021 to 2023 and Striker Fox Valley Soccer Club from 2012 to 2020. She served as team captain and earned Second Team ECNL Midwest All-Conference in 2021 and 2022 for Eclipse. During her time on Strikers Fox Valley she aided her team in becoming Presidents Cup Finalist.

Mason Hillery | Freshman| FC Evolution | Plainfield, Ill.

Hillery joins the Blue Demons from Plainfield South High School where she played on varsity all four years and was named All-Conference and All-Sectional her junior and senior year. Hillery also played for Evolution Soccer Club, leading her team to PDT Champions and CDS Champions during her tenure. This year, the goalkeeper participated in the ECNL Regional Continental Select Game down in Florida.

Jordin Kadiri | Freshman | FC United | Evanston, Ill.

Kadiri played soccer at Evanston Township High School where she aided in the schools’ fourth place finish at states in 2022. In school, Kadiri earned Honor Roll and the All-Conference/Sectional Sportsmanship Award. The defender also played for Chicago FC United.

Mackenzie Lee | Freshman | Pacific Northwest Soccer Club | Issaquah, Wash.

Lee played soccer at Issaquah High School where she made varsity her junior and senior year. In her junior year, the incoming freshman assisted her team with a 13-4-1 record and a second place finish at the Washington State 4A Championship. During her senior year, Lee aided her team with a 14-5 record and another second place finish at the Washington State 4A Championship. In 2022, she was named KingCo 4A All League First Team Midfielder. Aside from her high school team, Lee played club for Pacific Northwest SC.

Mary Molloy | Freshman | Western NY Flash | West Seneca, N.Y.

Molloy played varsity soccer for Nardin Academy all four years of high school. The West Seneca native aided her team in becoming Monsignor Martin Conference regular season champions and Monsignor Martin Conference Playoff Champions in 2020. During her high school tenure, Molloy scored 17 goals and generated 29 assists. The defender also played for Western New York Flash ECNL ’05 Girls team. She served as her team’s captain from U14-U18 and in 2021 aided in the team’s ECNL Ohio Valley Conference Championship win, qualifying them for ECNL national playoffs.

Schuyler Riese | Senior | Iowa State | Lincoln, Neb.

Riese joins the Blue Demons after playing soccer for Iowa State for three seasons. At ISU, she was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team in her 2020-21 season and during her 2021-22 campaign, Riese was named to the Big 12 All-Academic Second Team. Prior to Iowa State, Riese played soccer for Sporting NE, from 2016-2020. There, she aided in the club teams’ three State Championships (2016, 2017, 2018) before qualifying for and competing in U.S. Soccer Development Academy  in 2019-2020. Riese was named team captain four times during her tenure with the club.

Kristen Schwartz | Freshman | Sockers FC Chicago | Plainfield, Ill.

Schwartz played varsity soccer at Plainfield East. There, she was named team MVP and served as a team captain her senior year. She was also selected as an all-conference and all-sectional honoree, named to the Olympic Development Program, All-State and All-Region Teams in 2021. Off the field, Schwartz was a member of the National Honor Society and was recognized as an Illinois State Scholar. She also played club at the academy level for Sockers FC Chicago.