FARMVILLE, Va. – Coming off a nine-win season and a fifth-place Big South finish, Longwood women's soccer head coach Todd Dyer and associate head coach Rich Stoneman announced the signing of nine high school seniors his 2015-16 recruiting class.
 
Longwood's incoming cohort adds depth and skill at all three levels with players hailing from six different states ranging from Virginia to Michigan. Among the group are the 13th-ranked player in Pennsylvania, two 20-goal scorers, a two-sport standout on the soccer field and basketball court, a middle distance track star and a two-time Virginia 6A State Soccer Champion.
 
"With this class, we've added key pieces to our forward, midfield and defensive lines," said Dyer, who will embark on his 23rd year as head coach and founder of the Longwood women's soccer program in 2016. "We've added some elements to our roster that we've been lacking recently in terms of size, strength and physical prowess."
 
The Lancer newcomers include midfielder Paige Ackman (Livonia, Mich.), forward and midfielder Taylor Alvey (Chesterfield, Va.), forward and midfielder Erin Dwinell (Tewksbury, Mass.), midfielder Reilly Hayward (Haymarket, Va.), forward Emilie Kupsov (Pottstown, Pa.), defender and midfielder Olivia O'Connor (Vienna, Va.), goalkeeper Caroline Serniak (Fairfield, Conn.), defender Erica Sieben (Bear, Del.) and defender Susanna Weisskopf (Fairfax, Va.).
 
"With this group, I'm confident the cupboard is full and we're equipped to compete at the highest level in and out of the Big South Conference," Dyer said. "Not only are these young ladies the right players for our program, but they are also the right people for our 'Longwood Soccer Family' and university."
 
The nine-player contingent joins a Longwood program that returns 18 letterwinners and six starters from last year's 9-8-2 squad. The Lancers, who have logged two top-three finishes in their first four years in the Big South, posted a 5-3-2 record in conference play, including a streak of five consecutive Big South wins and nine total shutouts.
 
Paige Ackman comes to Longwood from Livonia Stevenson High School in Livonia, Mich., where she starred as a 6-0 center midfielder. A two-sport athlete who also lettered three years in basketball, Ackman is a versatile threat on the pitch and the hardwood for Stevenson, leading the soccer team in goals and basketball in assists as a sophomore and leading both squads in assists as a freshman.
 
Ackman started on the soccer team as a junior but played only a portion of the season due to a club soccer commitment with the Michigan Rush.
 
"Paige is a left-footed player best suited as a holding or attacking midfielder, but she also has the length and ability to potentially dominate in the air," Dyer said.
 
Ackman is as decorated academically as she is athletically, graduating Summa Cum Laude while serving as a member of the National Honor Society. She owns a 4.1 grade point average and has received recognition as an AP Scholar and an honor roll student. Additionally, she volunteers as a peer tutor and a youth soccer coach and counselor. She plans to attend law school after college.
 
Taylor Alvey is a 5-8 forward and midfielder from Cosby High School in Chesterfield, Va., where she is a three-year letterwinner and earned first team all-conference, all-region and all-state honors as a junior. Also appointed to the Richmond Times Dispatch All-Metro Team last season, she scored 20 goals as a junior to lead Cosby to the conference title.
 
Alvey played for the Richmond Kickers Elite club and led the team to back-to-back State Cup Finals appearances as a freshman and sophomore. She played with the Richmond United ECNL club as a junior and senior and served as team captain.
 
"Taylor is a crafty left-footed player with tremendous pace and versatility," Dyer said. "Though she can play any position on the field, we want to turn her loose in the final third."
 
A four-year honor roll selection, Alvey is a member of the National Honor Society and the Beta Club. She intends to pursue a career in the medical field.
 
Erin Dwinell is a four-year letterwinner and two-sport standout at Central Catholic High School in Tewksbury, Mass., leading the girls' soccer program as a 5-4 midfielder and forward while also competing in middle distance on the track team. Dwinell has been a part of two conference championship soccer teams, helping Central Catholic to the 2013 and 2015 Merrimack Valley Conference titles. She also competed with the GPS North Shore '97/98 club team.
 
Dwinell is an all-conference standout on the track as well, earning Merrimack Valley Conference All-Star honors in the 1,000-meter and one-mile as a freshman and sophomore and again in the 1,000-meter as a junior. She doubled up on her championship medals in 2015, pairing her conference soccer title with the Merrimack Valley Indoor Track Championship that same year.
 
"Erin is primarily a forward, but we also believe she has the physical and tactical ability to play different roles in midfield," Dyer said.
 
A captain of both the soccer and track teams, Dwinell aims to work in the sports performance profession after graduation.
 
Reilly Hayward is a product of Battlefield High School in Haymarket, Va., where she won two state titles while anchoring the backline. A 5-3 defender, Hayward lettered four years at Battlefield and received Conference 8 second team honors a year ago.
 
As a junior, Hayward was the fulcrum of a defensive unit that engineered 16 shutouts en route to the 2015 Virginia Girls 6A State Championship. In the title game, Hayward contributed to a 2-1 double-overtime victory over Cox that gave Battlefield its second consecutive state title after the program won the 2014 championship in a shootout.
 
"Reilly is the starting center-back for a team that has won back to back Virginia high school state championships, and we are excited to add her ability and pedigree to our program," Dyer said.
 
Emilie Kupsov has been a fixture of the Owen J. Roberts High School varsity squad throughout her college career and is coming off a remarkable senior campaign in which she scored 27 goals and dished 16 assists. The 5-5 forward from Pottstown, Pa., finished her prep career with 63 goals and 45 assists, ranking third all-time in career goals on the Roberts High School list. She is a three-time first-team all-conference pick, a three-time all-area selection and won her league's Golden Boot and Most Assists awards.
 
The 13th-ranked player in Pennsylvania by TopDrawerSoccer.com, Kupsov scored double-digit goals her last three years at Roberts, improving from six as a freshman to 14 as a sophomore, 16 as a junior and 27 as a senior. She added a combined 30 assists in her final two years to earn All-Southern PA first team honors from the Philadelphia Inquirer.
 
On the club circuit, Kupsov led FC Philadelphia to the 2015 US Club PA State Championship and EPYSA ODP to the 2014 U17 ODP Region 1 Championship. She was selected to the 2016 Girls IMG Academy Top 150 Player Poll in 2013 and invited to the U.S. Soccer National Training Center in 2010.
 
"Emilie is a dynamic, driven attacking player who has a real appetite and ability to score goals from central midfield and the center forward position," Dyer said.
 
An honor roll student, Kupsov is a volunteer at the Pottstown Hospital and a volunteer soccer coach at Vincent United FC. She aims to take her soccer career beyond college and eventually become a physician's assistant.
 
Olivia O'Connor is a 5-7 defender and midfielder from Trinity Christian School in Vienna, Va., where she is a four-year letterwinner and was a first-team all-conference pick as a sophomore. As a junior, she scored 17 goals with 12 assists.
 
O'Connor played her club soccer with the VSA NPL Elite '97 where she helped push the squad to the No. 1 ranking in Virginia along with an appearance in the 2014 Virginia State Cup Finals and championship appearances at the 2014 Jefferson Cup Qualifier and the Ultimate Cup. The squad also made a semifinal trip to the Adidas Blue Chip in 2014 and won championships at the 2013 Bethesda Showcase, the 2013 Discovery Cup and the 2013 Adidas Labor Day Shootout.
 
"Olivia is primarily an outside defender, but we believe she is mentally wired and physically equipped to serve in a more central role in defense and midfield," Dyer said.
 
Caroline Serniak is a 5-10 goalkeeper from Fairfield, Conn., where she locked down the net as the starting goalkeeper for Fairfield Ludlowe the past two seasons. She strung together five consecutive shutouts as a senior after a six-game streak as a junior, helping Ludlowe to the most wins in school history this past fall. An All-FCIAC honorable mention selection, she also captained the team as a senior.
 
Serniak is a four-year honor roll student and volunteered at both TopsSoccer and the Emmaus church retreat during all four years of high school. She plans to play soccer professionally overseas after college and pursue a career as an athletic trainer for a professional sports team.
 
"Caroline is a goalkeeper with size and strength, but equally important is her voice, leadership and command in the penalty area and beyond," Dyer said.
 
Erica Sieben is a 5-7 center back from Appoquinimink High School in Bear, Del., who was a second team all-state pick as a junior and totaled 12 goals in her first three seasons. She was named team MVP as a sophomore and junior, captained the squad as a junior and lettered all four years.
 
"Erica is an athletic, mobile defender that is a natural fit at the center back role, but who also has the versatility to play in wide positions," Dyer said.
 
Also a letterwinner in cross country, Sieben has achieved high honor roll honors every semester and is a coach for her local soccer club. She plans to pursue a career in physical therapy.
 
Susanna Weisskopf boasts an extensive soccer resume that includes three years as a member of the Oakton High School girls' soccer program and six playing with the ECNL FC Virginia '98 Club. A 5-5 defender and native of Fairfax, Va., Weisskopf will come to Longwood with multiple club championships under her belt, including the 2015 Disney Championship, the 2014 Greensboro Labor Day Championship, and the 2013 and 2014 U15 and U14 Mid-Atlantic Championships, all with her FC Virginia squads.
 
Weisskopf has led FC Virginia in assists in two of the past three seasons. She also collected VHSL All-Conference honorable mention honors as a sophomore at Oakton.
 
"Susanna is a physical powerhouse and ball striker at the outside back position, but she definitely has the attributes to contribute in central defense," Dyer said.
 
Also a member of the DECA Marketing Club and the Key Club, Weisskopf volunteers her time as a youth soccer coach and camp counselor. She has run various races for charity, including the Dash for Dad 5K, and plans to find a job after graduation that involves helping people.
 
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