Southeast Missouri State women's soccer enjoys signing day with seven-player class

The Southeast Missouri State women's soccer team celebrated signing day with a class of seven recruits.

The group, which includes local Jackson standout Cassidi Tomsu, is headlined by midfielder Esmerelda Gonzales, who owns the Texas state record for career goals and needs just 33 more goals to set the national girls soccer record. Her current goal total is 253.

Joining Tomsu and Gonzales are strikers Jennifer Brien and Katie Lever, defenders Alexis Hacker and Maria Salm and goalkeeper Maddie Gleeson.

"Without a doubt, the signing class of 2016 will make a significant, immediate, and long term overall impact on our soccer program," women's soccer coach Heather Nelson said in a press release.

"This class is well-rounded, and their strengths are both extensive and diverse in an extremely positive way. As a group, I am confident they will strengthen our program on and off the field in a way that will continue to define the true spirit and character that sets our program apart from others."

Gonzales, who stars at South Hill (Fort Worth, Texas), is coming off a junior season in which she notched 75 goals and 18 assists.

She is just one part of a signing class with an out-of-state flair.

Brien scored 23 goals and 14 assists as a junior at Oregon (Wisc.) High School, while Lever already wrapped up her playing career at Fort Campbell (Ky.). She ranked third in the state with 40 goals in her senior campaign.

Like Brien, Salm hails from Wisconsin, where she played as a freshman for Grafton High School before committing her time to a club career, in which she has played for North Shore United and won back-to-back state titles the last two years. Prior to that she was captain of Fusion Soccer Club and help her team to the Super-Y National Championships.

Gleeson earned all-state honors with a .74 goals-against average as goalkeeper for Rochester (Springfield, Ill.).

The lone Missouri recruit besides Tomsu, Hacker was an all-region player for Fort Zumwalt South as well as a member of club side St. Louis Scott Gallagher.