Ziemann Commits to NJCAA National Champion Runner-up Women’s Soccer Roster

Kats woman's soccer coach Gary Boughton is on a quest for a national championship. After finishing as last season's National Junior College Athletic Association runner-up, Boughton has endlessly pursued the missing piece(s) to bring his quest to fruition.

Boughton's methods of tracking the best players has brought the program from just a few wins a few seasons ago to a regional championship. His ability to find not just any talent but the most elite, almost makes it seem as if he has an innate global positioning system to hone on Western New York's top prospects. Coincidently, the latest signee comes via GPS-Elite NY and is also a high school 'Legend' – Annaliese Ziemann.

Ziemann captains both her GPS Club and Lancaster High School teams and is a center back that comes with impressive credentials that include multiple All-Erie County Interscholastic Conference honors.

"Anna is someone we've had at the top of our board since the first time I saw her play as a high school sophomore. Her tackling, tenacity, and ball-winning ability stand out as qualities that make her a great defender, but it's the mental side of her game that make her a great soccer player," Boughton said.

"Her movement, the angles she plays at, and her distribution all come from her high soccer IQ. Not only that, but I expect she will be seen as a leader the minute she steps into training camp. She's been a leader on every team she's played on, on and off the field, and I'm hoping that translates into her wearing the armband for us in the future."

Last season Boughton brought in another Lancaster product, Abbey Lombard. She lit up the NJCAA offensively and finished as an All-American. It now appears Boughton has found an excellent counter to Lombard at the opposite end of the turf and perhaps as good at stopping goals as Lombard is at scoring them.

"Any question marks we had going into next season about all we've lost in the back this year with the players we graduated can be erased with adding Anna to the mix to those we've signed already," Boughton concluded.

Ziemann is the third key defensive addition Boughton has made in the last month. Grace Beichner (Williamsville East) and Autumn Farino (Maryvale) were introduced as a defender and goalkeeper, respectively. Ziemann, Beichner and Farino have a combined eight All-ECIC honors between them.