Committed 2025 defenders who shut it down in NorCal

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This group of defenders from Northern California, who are tremendous at shutting down opponents, and can get involved going forward, are showing why they are committed to Division I programs. Let's take a deeper dive. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='54278' first='Whitney' last='Collet'], Central Defender, Mustang SC</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Collett is heading to Colgate after her senior year at Branson, and she is a club player at Mustang SC. She is a solid defender, who is just about as fundamental as they come. Her positioning is great, and she does not over commit. This allows her to be there to disrupt through balls and to dispossess attackers that try to get past her on their own. She is solid with the ball at her feet, can carry it forward, and really plays a nice ball out wide to the outside forwards.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='19034' first='Alison' last='Hou'], Central Defender, MVLA</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Hou attends Gregori in Modesto, and travels all the way up to Silicon Valley to play club for MVLA, which is a top club in the state. She is on her way to USC. Hou is a very neat and tidy defender, as good in the air as she is with her feet. She clears the ball well and without fear, she is relentless with an attacker in front of her and is excellent when it comes to disrupting an attackers flow. She's very technical and very skilled with the ball at her feet and can push up and join the attack or help build out of the back.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='18916' first='Katie' last='Lakin'], Outside Defender, Bay Area Surf</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lakin in is an Ole Miss commit as she will head out to Oxford after her senior year at Carondelet, which is a California powerhouse high school program. She is an outside back that can do it all. She is great in possession as she can help the offense transition quickly by carrying the ball up the pitch or she makes a quick pass to the middle and continues on her run. She has fantastic vision as she can slot a ball through the center backs, she can drag out wide and deliver a dangerous cross or she can drag across the face of goal and get a shot off. She is a tremendous, well-rounded outside defender.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='77938' first='Eden' last='Nicholson'], Defender, San Juan SC</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nicholson plays at San Juan SC and will be off to Colorado State in the Fall of 2025. She is an outside defender that I've seen play on either side as she offers some versatility. She offers versatility in what she offers on the pitch as well, as she is excellent going both ways. She has blazing speed which allows her to recover quickly on defense as she is great at helping her teammates if the situation calls for it. She gets up and down the touch line quickly, she is very agile and shifty as she can take defenders on. She possesses the ball well and beats defenders, while setting up her teammates, showing tremendous vision as her ball placement is top notch.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->