Pal Blues Add Three to Roster

The Pali Blues are not content to rest on their laurels. Proof lies in the team’s first signings of 2010: Penn State forward Danielle Toney and Australian National Team defenders Clare Polkinghorne and Karla Reuter. All three figure to play a prominent role in the team’s pursuit of its third consecutive USL W-League championship. Toney tallied a team-best 30 points as a junior last season at Penn State, recording 12 goals and six assists. The Northville, Michigan, native received NSCAA First Team All-Great Lakes honors and First Team All-Big Ten accolades. Toney was a Big Ten All-Freshman selection two years ago with seven goals and two assists. The 2008 Big Ten Tournament Most Valuable Player tallied 27 points on a well-balanced 10 goals and seven helpers as a sophomore. Prior to arriving at Penn State she was a three-time NSCAA Youth All-American and Parade All-American while playing at Northville High School. The two-time All-State selection also spent time in the player pools for the U.S. National Team at the U-15, U-16 and U-17 levels. Polkinghorne is a native of Brisbane, Australia, and currently plays for the Queensland Roar of the Australian W-League. She has played for her native country for the past four years, scoring twice in 26 international games. She also played for Australia in the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup in China, where she contributed to the Matildas’ first World Cup win over Ghana and helped her country advance to the quarterfinals. Reuter is also a native of Brisbane, Australia, and spent this past season with the Queensland Roar. The Queensland Academy of Sport graduate began playing for the Matildas at the U-19 level in 2002 at the FIFA World Championships in Canada. She has been a mainstay with her native national team ever since, capping 14 times in the 2003 FIFA World Cup and 2004 Olympic Games. She began her club career with the Queensland Sting of the Australian Women’s National Football League before joining the Toowoomba Raiders and she is best known for playing stout defense. * * * * * O’Hara Wins MAC Hermann Trophy Kelley O’Hara, who joined the Pali Blues last June and immediately asserted herself as a leader in the midfield, has been awarded collegiate soccer’s highest honor for her recently completed senior year at Stanford. Last Friday’s Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy was an all Blues affair with North Carolina midfielder Tobin Heath and UCLA forward Lauren Cheney in attendance as the other two finalists. Since 2002, the ‘MAC’ Hermann Trophy has been the unified award presented to the top college player in the country as decided by Division I coaches. “It’s a great way to end the college season,” O’Hara said. “I’m so thankful, and blessed. But the reason I was able to get the award was because of my teammates. I couldn’t have done it without them.” Along with Blues teammate and Palisadian Ali Riley, O’Hara led Stanford to a 25-1 record and its first appearance in the NCAA finals. She shattered school scoring records along the way, leading the nation in goals (26) and points (65).