SAN JOSE, Calif. – San José State women's soccer signed another big piece in their 2019-20 recruiting class with the addition of goalkeeper Ariana Romero, a transfer from Seattle University. Head coach Lauren Hanson Made the announcement on Thursday.
"Ari's experience and success in the Western Athletic Conference in her freshman year is a tremendous asset to our team," Hanson said. "The staff and I are thrilled to have three talented goalkeepers that can push each other and compete to be the best that they can be. This is the ideal competitive situation we want in our program to naturally encourage individual development. We are excited that a talented player, who is from the Bay Area, is attracted to the culture and program we continue to build here, and we welcome her into our Spartan Family."
Romero made 18 starts and 20 total appearances while posting a 9-7-1 record as a freshman at Seattle U. in 2018. She made a total of 72 saves with a 0.80 save percentage and started in the net of the first round of the NCAA Tournament vs. Stanford.
Romero was named to the 2018 WAC Women's Soccer All-Tournament Team after pitching three shutouts to help lead the Redhawks to the WAC Championship title. In the championship match vs. the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Romero made four saves in the net to preserve a 1-0 shutout.
Prior to her stint in Seattle, Romero played four years of high school soccer at Hercules High School in Hercules, California, where she garnered first team all-league accolades all four seasons. She was named team MVP in both 2014 and 2016 and had a personal-best eight-game shutout streak. Romero was also a member of the California Thorns Academy.
Romero is the younger sister of former Spartan men's soccer player Jeremy Romero, who played at SJSU from 2016-17. She will have the opportunity to compete with sophomore Kara Burns and redshirt freshman Caitlin McManus for the starting goalkeeper job in 2019.