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COLLEGE SOCCER: SVEC'S BRUEHWILER SIGNS WITH DIVISION II DAEMEN (2019-12-10)

BY TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
SPENCER — SVEC girls soccer standout Ava Bruehwiler will continue her career at the NCAA Division II level. The S-VE senior signed a national letter of intent to attend Daemen College at a student assembly here Monday.

Bruehwiler is looking forward to playing at the Division II level and is ready to take on the challenges it presents.

"It will be tough for me," she said. "I know I'm not going in thinking that I'm going to have a starting spot or anything. I'm going to have to work for it. D-2 will help me be a better player, whereas D-3, it would be easier for me."

The first girl to play four years for the merged Candor and S-VE programs, she is also the first Eagle to be named an IAC first-team all-star all four years.

She started her high school career as a defender, then moved to forward as a sophomore. In her junior and senior seasons, she played center-midfield.

Bruehwiler recorded 48 goals and 25 assists during her SVEC career.

"Ava is a coach's dream.She loves to play the game of soccer and is dedicated to the sport year-round," said SVEC head coach Kurt Bastian. "She is our most talented and technical player while being our hardest worker in practice and in games. Ava has a high soccer IQ, sees the field very well and is extremely competitive.. She possesses a good first touch, can use either foot and distributes the ball very well. Ava ids also a talented 1-on-1 defender.

"She will be successful at the next level because of her technical ability, tactical knowledge, her versatility and her dedication and love of the game."

In addition to the SVEC program, Bruehwiler also played for the Soaring Capitals Soccer Club out of Elmira.

"That really helped me a lot," she said. "Having two coaches really helped with two different people telling me how I can get better. We went to a lot of showcases and stuff, which helped me."

Bruehwiler was drawn to the academic offerings at Daemen as well as the soccer program.

"It not only had the soccer aspect for me, it also had my major, being a PT (physical therapy) school. It was a top PT school for me," she said.

She looked at Ithaca College, but felt it was too close to home.

"I was also looking at Nazareth, but when I visited it didn't feel right and when I visited Daemen it fit right for me," she said.

Meanwhile, being a part of the SVEC program build-up will leave some long-lasting memories as she prepares to head to Daemen, which is located in the Buffalo suburb of Amherst.

"It was my first varsity year, so there were a lot more people than I thought there was going to be. I built a lot of friendships through that."

One of the positive takeaways of playing in a merged program is the friendships she built with the Candor players.

"I've had a lot of close friendships with them," she said. "That will definitely stick."

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IN PHOTO: SVEC standout Ava Bruehwiler signs her NLI as her parents, Carlen Sill and Leonard Bruehwiler, look on ... PHOTO BY TIM TAYLOR.

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