High School Sophomore Maggie Pierce Turns Heads in North Carolina
At just 15-years-old, Maggie Pierce has built a resume that is hard to go unnoticed. The North Carolina native has continued to turn heads with her verbally committing to the University of North Carolina last year. Her versatile earned her a spot on Oak City Futbol Club of the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) as well as on the CASL ’00 (U17) ECNL team. 
Youth Soccer News: It’s not everyday that a 14-year-old soccer player commits to one of the top universities in the country. Now 15, Maggie Pierce has reached enormous heights in her short career with her verbally committed to the University of North Carolina.
The current high school sophomore plays a year up for the CASL ’00 (U17) ECNL team based out of North Carolina. Pierce has been a member of North Carolina ODP, as well as played on her high school varsity team during her freshman year.
The attacking midfielder’s recent play has ranked her No. 8 in the United States for the high school class of 2019 by The Soccer List, as well as the No. 53 player in IMG’s rankings class of 2019 – No. 19 midfielder.
Pierce was also a starter for Oak City Futbol Club of the Women’s Premier Soccer League (WPSL) during the club’s summer campaign. Although Pierce was the only high school player on the team, this did not shy her away from putting her talent up against current and former college players that provided her with the guidance needed to compete at the next level.
“The players taught me that I needed to talk more. Dena Floyd, who played at University of Florida, kept telling me to communicate with her and tell her what I see,” said Pierce.
Pierce notes that head coach Ronnie Bouemboue showed enormous faith in her, and pushed her to use her age as a driving force to edge her older opponents.
“Coach Ronnie kept telling me to not back down and not be tentative. He wanted me to take my shots, play hard to the ball and not play like I was younger,” said Pierce. “He told me to use my age to my advantage in order to have more energy left at the end of games.”
During her first year of high school, Pierce found herself on the varsity team at Cardinal Gibbons. The acclaimed high school has won conference championships 12 of the last 15 years, two state titles (2007 and 2013) plus a number of regional and state final appearances.
“The most impressive thing about Maggie as a player is her dedication and love for the game,” said Michele Miller, Cardinal Gibbons High School – Women’s Varsity Soccer head coach. “She is a player that never takes a day off and is always working to improve her skills.”
The Cardinal Gibbons High School team is very competitive, winning the annual Conference Championship 12 times in the last 15 years as well as two State Titles (2007 and 2013.)
Miller highlights Pierce’s two-way play as allowing for her to be versatile on the field, which makes up for her physical stature.
“We’ve had several national team players come through as well as many conference players of the year and All-state, and All-region selections. We are blessed to have such great kids to work with,” said Miller. “Although she is not the biggest or the fastest player, Maggie makes up for it through sheer effort and her competitive spirit. She pushes herself hard and wants to be successful,”
“Maggie can strike a ball from distance and is also comfortable with the ball at her feet. She can defend and attack — so she’s good on both sides of the ball,” added Miller.
Over the past three years, Pierce has received Training Center invites from U.S. Soccer as well as an invitation to a US Club Soccer id2 camp in 2015.
With Pierce making strides on the field, she has also remained focused on her studies earning A/B Honor Roll during her freshman year. Pierce’s dedication on and off the field has received recognition by those close to her, with her most promising years surely to come as she heads into her prime developing years.
Check out highlights of Pierce below:
Editor’s Note: To Maggie’s coaches – thanks for helping us with this article! Good Luck Maggie – Keep us posted!
