Auburn, ME - The Central Maine Mustangs are thrilled to announce the commitment of Leya Harvey, a multi-positional player from Poland Regional High School and a long-time player in the Velocity Premier Soccer program. A two-time All-Conference selection, a Poland Lady Knights MVP award winner for 2018, and a Sun Journal All Region Second Team selection, Leya is also an honor roll student and a mentor in the Lewiston Regional Technical Center.       

Former Poland Regional High School coach, Tim Dolley says, "Leya is a dynamic player who can play many positions and is a great teammate who wants the best results for her team. She scored 10 goals and had 4 assists this year as a striker and midfielder in a tough Western Maine Conference."     

Leya has spent the past six years developing her game with the Velocity Premier Soccer Club, training in Gorham and Saco for 7 months each year and playing against some top competition in New England.    Velocity coach, Rich Penny, commented, "Leya is the quintessential player. She not only has the physical tools but she is a great teammate driven to do well on and off the field. She is the type of forward who can get in the difficult places and get those type of goals, physically she can hang with anyone. There isn't a position she didn't play for us. Although I prefer her up top, she also played holding mid, outside back and was our backup keeper without a loss on her record. Her commitment to her team, which trained 45-minutes away, was impressive and did not go unnoticed by her coaches and teammates, particularly when she could only be there for half a practice due to her other activities."

Mustangs Head Coach Rob Rodriguez, a former coach in the Velocity club for many years, is well aware of her playing history. "I've watched Leya develop during her entire career in Velocity and she has played for some amazing coaches, each with different styles and different playing systems so her knowledge of the game and ability to play anywhere on the field at a high level is exactly what we are looking for. When I left the club a few years ago to focus on developing the Mustangs program, Leya is one of the players who I continued to keep track of hoping to someday see her in a Mustang uniform.   She's a game-changing player who we already know will work well with our returning core group because she's such a good teammate."   

Leya is excited about committing to the Mustangs and says, "I chose Central Maine because of the architecture program and because I have known Coach Rodriguez for the past six years and I am finally getting a chance to play for him. I like how the team feels like a family and makes you feel a part of it right away and I'm looking forward to that. I think I can bring my knowledge of the game and my determination to the team next year and although I know college soccer will be faster paced than high school, I'm excited to see how it compares to premier soccer."

Leya will be studying in the Architecture and Civil Engineering program and will be reunited on the field with former Poland Knight, Katelynn Greene.