9 Top NCAA Midfielders to Watch Out for Right Now
Midfielders are the engine of the team. How they play in both attack and defense plays a huge role in the outcome of each game. More often than not, they’re the most technical players a team has and can do a little bit of everything, thanks to the versatility needed to play the position. Not only is skill and technique needed, but fitness is as well. They have to be in the best shape. Running box to box with little rest requires endurance for days. These nine midfielders at the college level are the best of the best. All have the opportunity to go pro both here and abroad. Here are nine top NCAA midfielders to watch out for this year and beyond.
If you’re interested in NCAA soccer, check out Forza Football. Forza allows you to keep track of all of your favorite teams and leagues with live scores, news, match info, and more. It covers NCAA, NWSL, FA WSL, and tons more women’s soccer.
Hannah Bebar – Harvard University, Sophomore
Harvard is primed to be the best team in the Ivy League this year and is currently ranked at No. 16 in the nation. Hannah Bebar is their star player who can do it all for the Crimson. A former U-20 USWNT and former top recruit in the nation, according to TopDrawer in 2019, Bebar has the pedigree to go with her skills.
GOOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLLL
Hannah Bebar comes out of no where to make the steal and score her fourth of the season! #GoCrimson | #OneCrimson pic.twitter.com/iFoPkQ2VgP
— #16 Harvard Women's Soccer (@Harvard_WSoccer) September 11, 2022
After netting five goals and ten assists last year, she’s already up four goals and four assists through six games this year. She’s on pace to go well beyond last year’s numbers and could help turn Harvard into a top ten team by the end of the year.
The rest of the Ivy League cannot be looking forward to facing Hannah Bebar for another two and a half years.
Croix Bethune – University of Southern California (USC), Senior
View this post on Instagram
If you don’t know who Croix Bethune is, you better get used to hearing her name more often. If there’s a favorite for the No.1 pick in next year’s NWSL Draft, it’s Croix Bethune.
As a junior, she scored 16 goals to go with ten assists. Doing that in the Pac-12 against premier competition makes those numbers look even better.
Starting this year with Savannah DeMelo in the NWSL, Bethune has had to take on an even bigger role. But, when the team has needed her the most, she’s come through. Two goals and an assist against a TCU team ranked in the top ten show she can consistently perform against the best of the best.
Enjoy watching her this year before she heads to the pros. We’re all in for a real treat.
Jaime Shepherd – Brigham Young University (BYU), Junior
With Mikayla Cluff and Cameron Tucker both at the professional level, Jamie Shepard remains the last star player from their NCAA Championship Game run from last year.
Like Croix Bethune, she’s had to step up and do even more for her team. Over the last three years, she’s scored six goals and dished out all assists.
Through seven games this year, she’s already got three goals and two assists. She’s got a great chance to surpass her last three years combined in this one season. BYU has fallen in the polls down to No. 25, and another loss would likely knock them out of the rankings, but that doesn’t mean they won’t get it together by the conference season.
View this post on Instagram
One thing is clear, BYU will go as Jamie Shepherd goes, and if she gets to double-digit goals and assists, this team will be just fine.
Taylor Huff – University of Tennessee, Sophomore
Taylor Huff burst onto the scene last year as one of the best freshmen in the country and has already continued that into this season. The former SEC Freshman of the Year is set to be a star for quite a while and is already on pace to surpass her numbers from last year.
View this post on Instagram
A top-five recruit from 2020, Huff has lived up to the hype with three goals and four assists; she had five assists last year total. Tennessee had some tough early losses to the big-name programs like Duke and North Carolina, but they’re sure to work their way back into the Top 25.
Huff and the Volunteers are way too talented not to end up there by the season’s end. Taylor Huff will surely be one of the key players leading the way.
Maya Doms – Stanford University, Senior
Maya Doms has been a key contributor at Stanford since her days as a freshman. Injuries kept her out her sophomore season, but she had a major bounce-back year as a junior with 11 goals and three assists.
Doms, like many others on this list, is taking on the role of a leader and doing whatever she can to help her team win. Her numbers aren’t as robust through eight games, with just two goals and two assists, but the team is 7-1, which shows how she’s doing the dirty work in the midfield that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet.
View this post on Instagram
Regardless of numbers, she’s one of the many great Stanford players that have come through the program and should have a strong finish to the season.
Carlee Giammona – Pepperdine University, Graduate Student
The former University of Alabama transfer has given Pepperdine a huge lift over the last couple of seasons. After a top ten finish last year, the Waves will likely finish in the top ten this year while returning many starters, including Carlee Giammona.
Carlee Giammona with the steal and pass to Tori Waldeck is just 😍😍😍😍😍😍!!!!#WavesUp pic.twitter.com/h5EvlWtmkN
— Pepperdine Soccer (@WavesSoccer) September 16, 2022
Last year she provided a solid seven goals and eight assists and already has five goals and three assists through eight games. The grad student in her last year of eligibility is on pace for her best season at Pepperdine and scored in a big game against a bigger school, Arizona.
Expect Giammona to be one of the last midfielders on the Hermann trophy shortlist–she’s the real deal.
Lia Godfrey – University of Virginia (UVA), Junior
Lia Godfrey was the ACC Freshman of the Year two years ago and was named first-team All-ACC and a second-team All-American last year. When you’re one of the best in the ACC, you’re already one of the best in the nation.
View this post on Instagram
Godfrey can dish out assists like nobody’s business; 21 assists in her first two years is insane. The Cavaliers are No. 7 in the polls right now and will likely be in the top three by the end of the year. Lia Godfrey is one of the best at creating chances, and the more she sets up her teammates, the better Virginia will be as a team this season.
Jenna Nighswonger – Florida State University, Senior
Jenna Nighswonger has been one of the most versatile players in the country. After doing an amazing job in defense, she’s finally moving to her preferred position in the center-attacking midfield spot.
With two goals and four assists through their first six games, Nighswonger will surely eclipse her career-best numbers in what will be a breakout campaign.
View this post on Instagram
Florida State is still one of the premier teams in the nation, and as long as Nighswonger keeps scoring and creating, they’ll be a Top 15 team and a top-five team in the ACC.
Lexi Missimo – University of Texas, Sophomore
Last of our NCAA midfielders is Lexi Missimo. She is the definition of a wonderkid–a young star who has an incredibly bright future in the sport. Named the top high school recruit in 2020, choosing Texas was a big deal for the program.
View this post on Instagram
Missimo did not disappoint in her freshman season, contributing nine goals and 14 assists from the midfield. Missimo does it all for the Longhorns, this year she already has four goals and five assists with Texas currently ranked at No. 20. If they can win their conference games against TCU and West Virginia and Missimo keeps putting up gaudy numbers, she will have to be one of the favorites to win the Hermann Trophy.
Keep an eye on Lexi Missimo. She’s set to dominate at the college level for the next couple of years.
Featured image via @uscwsoccer on Instagram
_
GIRLS SOCCER NETWORK: YOUR SOURCE FOR GIRLS SOCCER NEWS
Girls Soccer Network
Your source for girls soccer news
