After playing soccer by each other’s side throughout their youth, both Hannah Abrams and Claire Taylor of Pace High School were able to celebrate signing soccer scholarships on the same day during their final year of high school together.
“It’s very cool, because she is like my best friend,” said Abrams, who signed with the University of Southern Mississippi. “We have been friends since we played (recreational) soccer at five (years old). “It’s pretty cool to end our high school careers and sign together.”
Fellow teammate Claire Taylor, who opted to play soccer for Troy University, said the signing to play collegiate soccer was something the both of them had “been dreaming about.”
“We have been wanting to play college soccer forever,” Taylor said. “We are just so proud of each other for doing, the feeling is just unexplainable.”
Their high school coach David Seevers shared some insights on what each player can bring to their chosen collegiate programs. Seevers believes both player would benefit their teams, regardless of school.
“Hanna has been a leader from the start…she has been leading the way with the way she trains and the way she plays,” he said. “A lot of our success we can attribute to her being a threat to the goal.”
Seevers described Taylor’s play on the soccer field as “fierce.”
“She played on top for us as well. The one thing she did for us more than anything is that she put pressure on (opposing) team’s back lines and caused them to bobble the ball in the back, we would get the ball quickly and be at their doorstep, ready to score again,” Seevers said. “I haven’t seen too many players do that they way she does. She is relentless in pursuit of the ball.”
Regardless of attributes, Seevers said both players are leaving a void on the team.
“It’s definitely tuff to replace players like Hannah and Claire, in some ways it’s impossible because each player is unique,” he said. "We won’t be able to replace them, we will just have to adapt in order to meet the player base that we have.”
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Soccer: PaceÂ’s Abrams, Taylor sign scholarships (VIDEO)