Amanda Webster heading to California

Amanda Webster is a master at going coast to coast with a soccer ball, so it’s only fitting that she’s doing the same when it comes to her college plans.Although the St. Mary’s senior midfielder initially focused her college search on East Coast schools, when Santa Clara University came calling, she answered. The Spartans’ all-time leading goal scorer (girls) has verbally committed to play soccer for the Division 1 Broncos of the West Coast Conference.Webster, last year’s Item Player of the Year, Eastern Mass. Division 3 Player of the Year and Catholic Central League Most Valuable Player, will trade in the St. Mary’s blue and gold for the Broncos’ maroon and white next fall.Webster was recruited by dozens of Division 1 schools, including the University of Connecticut, which was one of her leading choices, but she fell in love with the California school.”I wasn’t expecting it at all,” Webster said about her choice of attending school on the other side of the country.Webster said it’s a huge relief knowing where she’ll be going next year.”It’s so much stress off me,” she said. “It (the recruiting process) is so overwhelming.”Webster arrived at St. Mary’s as a seventh-grader, and by the eighth grade, she was a starting in the midfield for the Spartans. Webster was one of a strong contingent of Saugus girls who have found their way to St. Mary’s over the last five or six years. One of her former teammates, Kerri Domohowski, still holds the Spartans’ assist record. She’s currently playing at Merrimack College.St. Mary’s coach Jim Foley said when players like Webster, Domohowski and Gabe Pesce came on board, the St. Mary’s program really started taking off.”Amanda’s a great leader, on and off the field. She’s always willing to help out. If she’s not the best, she’s one of the best players I’ve had,” he said.Foley said Webster does a great job seeing the whole field and knowing what’s going to happen before the play develops.”She shines. She can score. She can pass. She can shoot. She’s good with either foot. She has great ball skills,” Foley said. “She’s one of those all-around athletes. No matter what sport she plays, she’s good at it.”Last year, Webster broke the girls school record for career goals with 76. She also has 40 assists. Webster said one of her personal goals this season is to reach the 100-career goal mark.Webster credited her family with providing her the support she needed to pursue her dream of playing Division 1 soccer. She said the commitment over the years has been immense. She said she’s missed Thanksgiving with her family, school dances and weekends away in order to play in tournaments and do what was necessary, but it was all worth it. She said her family, including her parents, sister and brother and her grandparents, have all been there for her along the way.Although her trips to Brockton to play Cardinal Spellman are numbered, Webster’s traveling days are just beginning. Among the teams the Broncos play in the West Coast Conference are Cal-State Fullerton, Loyola-Marymount, Pepperdine, the University of Portland, St. Mary’s College, UC-Irvine and Gonzaga.