CSU Adds 11 Players For 2010 During National Signing Period

< p>Columbus, Ga. -- Columbus State University head soccer coach Jay Entlich has announced the signing of 11 players for the 2010 season during this week's NCAA National Signing Period. All 11 of the additions are true freshmen and nine are from the state of Georgia. 

"We had some definite needs that we wanted to fill with our recruiting," said Entlich. "We lost five players, four of whom started every game last season, so we will be looking to our returning players and these new additions to step up and fill the voids."

At goalkeeper Entlich and his staff have added Willi Babillis out of Atlantic Beach, Fla. Babillis comes from Fletcher High School and is a Regional ODP keeper for the First Coach Kyx. The Kyx were USYSA state semi-finalists in Florida and won the recent Disney Showcase title. Babilis will look to challenge for playing time right away in the fall.

The defensive corps will have four players added to its ranks. Kansas Bayly (Lilburn, GA - Parkview HS), Ashley Parker (Conyers, GA - Salem HS), Paige Placido (Lawrenceville, GA - Dacula HS), and Ashton Ziadie (Covington, GA - Eastside HS) will all compete with returning players for field time in the fall.

Bayly is a captain on the Georgia state champion, Region III champion and national finalist GSA Phoenix Red club team and is a versatile player who can play any of the four back positions and also is a serious attacking threat. Parker is a starting player on the talented GFC Silverbacks and is primarily an outside player who loves to tackle and has the athletic ability to make her very dangerous in transition. Placido is also a starter for the GFC Silverbacks and plays the opposite outside position from Parker. She is a very technical player and is very good are reading the game.  Ziadie plays for the Atlanta Fire United club, a USYSA state semfinalist and is primarily an outside player, but one who can be just as comfortable playing centrally. She is great in the one-on-one duels, as well.

At the midfield positions, Entlich and his staff have added the talents of Kylie Donahue (Lawrenceville, GA - Collins Hill HS), Sarah Rogers (Ooltewah, TN - Boyd-Buchanan HS), and Amber Wright (Sharpsburg, GA - East Coweta HS). 

Donahue has already enrolled at CSU and is a Georgia ODP player who plays with the Atlanta Fire United club. She has been on three state semifinalist teams and is the first freshman to join the CSU program for the spring semester. She is a very technical player with great vision and the playmaking ability to get the offense started. Rogers plays her club soccer with FC Alliance and helped her squad to the USYSA Region III quarterfinals. She is very athletic, terrific in the air, not afraid to tackle, and distributes the ball well. Wright was a USYSA state semifinalist with the Concorde Fire South and likes to take people on out wide, strikes the ball very well, and has a superior work ethic.

Up front, Entlich has added the trio of Amanda Ducey (Woodstock, GA - Sequoyah HS), Ashley Miller (Conyers, GA - Salem HS), and Heather Pierce (Sharpsburg, GA - East Coweta HS). 

Ducey plays for the Cherokee Impact and NASA in club soccer and has been a USYSA state finalist with NASA. She has the versatility to play wide or centrally and likes to dribble and take on defenders as a playmaker. Miller is a starter for the GFC Silverbacks and is more of a wide player who is comfortable running at defenders or getting behind them. Pierce is a USYSA semi-finalist with the Concord Fire South club and is a pure finisher who loves to work inside the box.  All three of these players have terrific work ethic, can run all day, and make a habit of scoring goals, according to the CSU staff. 

"I am very excited about the 2010 signing class," Entlich said. "We have a very talented group of student-athletes already here in our program and they also want to be starters. In this upcoming preseason there will be terrific competition for playing time and I hope everyone comes in fit and ready to go."

The 2010 season will get underway with the Cougar Invitational as CSU plays Newberry on September 3rd and West Georgia on September 5th at the Walden Soccer Complex.