Corona del Mar’s Chelf picks Arizona, joining club teammates Rodman and Shea as Pac-12 commits

A season after winning a national title at the club level, a trio of talented girls’ soccer players from Newport Beach have made plans for the collegiate level.

Megan Chelf, Trinity Rodman and Lily Shea were all key players on the SoCal Blues 15-and-under team that won the Elite Clubs National League national championship in July in San Diego. The sophomores and good friends now all plan to continue their careers post-high school in the Pac-12, albeit at different schools.

Chelf verbally committed to the University of Arizona for women’s soccer last week, becoming the latest of the trio to commit. Last month, Rodman committed to UCLA, and Shea committed to Cal.

“I picked Arizona because I really liked the coaching,” said Chelf, a right back for the Blues but a midfielder for the Corona del Mar High girls’ soccer team. “That made my decision a little bit easier, because my personality fit well with their personality … [The campus] was just so pretty. It has a lot of history, and the facilities were insane.”

Of the three players, Chelf is the one who actually plays high school soccer in Newport Beach. Shea is a sophomore at Mater Dei High. Rodman, who trained over the summer with the U.S. Under-17 Women’s National Team, recently transferred to JSerra with her older brother D.J., who plays basketball.

Chelf, who tied with Rodman for the CdM team lead in goals last year with 14, led the team with 13 assists. She and Rodman were dynamic forces who helped the Sea Kings win the Pacific Coast League title and advance to the quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 2 playoffs.

Chelf said she does plan to play high school soccer again for CdM this winter. There was speculation that top players could join the U.S. Soccer girls’ development academy, but Chelf said her SoCal Blues team decided to stay in the ECNL instead. The Blues are coached by Greg Baker, who is also the girls’ soccer head coach at JSerra High. Last winter, he led the Lions to CIF Southern Section Division 1 and CIF State Southern California Regional Division I titles.

“It’s cool to wear a jersey for your high school and kind of represent your high school,” Chelf said.

Shea should be a key player on defense this season for the Monarchs, who last year made the Division 1 title game before losing to JSerra in penalty kicks. Shea played junior varsity last season but will work for a starting defense spot this season.

She’s tall, at almost 5 feet 10, and she plays left back for the Blues. As for committing to Cal, Shea said she also really liked the coaching staff, though originally she was against the thought of staying in California.

The journey to becoming college commits has been a rewarding one for Shea and her friends. Three years ago, they were featured in the Daily Pilot for winning the U.S. Youth Soccer Region IV Championships as a 12-and-under team. That squad also included Jen Alvarado, a Newport Beach resident who recently transferred from Mater Dei to JSerra, Shea said.

Alvarado also is a sophomore but, with a 2001 birthday, she plays on the next age-group team up for the Blues. She has committed to UCLA, where her older sister Annie, a Corona del Mar High alumna, starred.

“It’s honestly so exciting and so cool to see,” Shea said. “With Megan and a couple of other girls on my team, I’ve been playing with them for nine years now. Trinity is about seven or eight years that I’ve been playing with her. It’s just a very cool experience. We’ve all worked so hard and come so far with each other. We used to play each other in AYSO … and now we’re like sisters. It’s one of the most exciting times in our soccer career, just figuring this all out, and it’s so fun to watch.”

The friendships should continue for years to come into college, which is still three years away for the talented trio.

“When we play each other, it’s definitely going to be competitive,” Chelf said with a laugh. “They’ve got to watch out.”

[email protected]

Twitter: @mjszabo