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Alamein’s most recent three signings have spanned the spectrum of recruitment streams available to the NPLW as the league continues to grow in stature.
A mixture of Victoria’s state leagues, Australian W-League and American college system have been tapped into with the club’s acquisition of Kelsey Minton, Caitlin Doeglas and Mari Pastor.
Minton heads over from SL1 outfit Berwick City.
The former Mornington SC forward was the State League 1 South-East Golden Boot in 2016, helping her side to a respectable second place finish behind former WPL club Boroondara Eagles after promotion in 2015, where she won league Best and Fairest in 2015 in State League 2.
“Kelsey Minton I have been following from last year and she has been dominant in lower divisions of Victorian state league,” Alamein head coach Sinisa Cohadzic said.
“She has speed, great ability to score and is willing to work hard to develop and improve her game.
Meanwhile, Doeglas will be familiar to W-League fans as a member of Perth Glory’s squad.
The former Balcatta FC midfielder from Western Australia made her mark in the W-League this season against the Western Sydney Wanderers, netting after only 14 seconds – one of the fastest goals in the competition’s history – to help her side to a convincing win.
“Caitlin Doeglas will be a great addition to our team coming from Perth Glory,” Cohadzic said.
“She has great ability to control the game and at the same time can score. Having the experience of playing in W-League she will be one of the leaders in the team.”
Finally, American import Pastor has spent the past five years in the college system at UC Davis following a prolific junior career at Albany High School.
Born in Palo Alto in California, her father George was an American international, representing the national team seven times in the 1980s.
The midfielder also recently featured in the Women’s Premier Soccer League for Tottenham Hotspurs Eastbay Ladies.
“Mari Pastor comes from a high level in the USA college system. She has great ability to score from midfield, set pieces and has a winning mentality which is what we want,” Cohadzic said.
Pastor joins Amy Marron as new internationals at Alamein for the new year, replacing the outgoing Megan Fish and Hannah Keane.
With all three of Minton, Doeglas and Pastor strengthening the midfield and front three, Cohadzic believes the trio are astute acquisitions as the club seeks to build on its semi-final finishes in the league and cup next year.
“All three girls with other quality signings so far will give us improvement in areas that we lacked last season for us to be able to achieve success,” he said.