The Plano Senior High Wildcats boys soccer program has three now-graduated players who look to continue their athletic careers at the college level.
Former midfielders Caiden Chapel and Jonathan Cui have confirmed their pledges to schools on opposite coasts while ex-goalie Esteban Rodriguez is going to stay closer to home.
Chapel is set to attend Biola University in La Mirada, Calif.
“Caiden is an enthusiastic and driven person, and we are excited for him to bring those qualities to Biola,” Collegiate soccer coach Torrey Stricklin said on the Biola athletics department’s Facebook. “He is a technically gifted midfielder whose athleticism and engine allow him to cover a lot of ground and impact the game at multiple levels.”
Chapel joins a Biola team that failed to win a conference game in 2021.
Cui is headed to the East Coast where he is to attend and play for Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
“I am extremely excited to announce that I will be furthering my academic and athletic career at Johns Hopkins University! Cui wrote on his Instagram. “I appreciate all the support from my family, teammates, coaches, and friends on this journey. Go Blue Jays!”
The Blue Jays are in NCAA Div. III.
Rodriguez’s next chapter in life will take about 200 miles to the west in Abilene, where he will soon suit up for a Hardin-Simmons program that made it to the semifinal round of the 2021 American Southwest Conference Tournament.
American Academy of Soccer, the youth club that he played for, congratulated him on social media.
“Congratulations to Esteban Rodriguez … Esteban will be playing for Hardin Simmons University,” the team wrote in a Facebook post.
Chapel, Cui, and Rodriguez helped guide Plano to its first playoff appearance in 14 years.