A pair of Park Hill soccer players signed to play at the next level.
Cameron Caldwell inked with Division II Maryville in St. Louis, while Matt Lachowitzer signed with Benedictine.
Caldwell was the Suburban Conference Gold Division defender of the year and was one of two Trojans – Nick Bender was the other – on the first team.
The Saints lists Caldwell as a midfielder in their press release announcing his signing, though he played defender for Park Hill.
Caldwell, who played club ball for KC Fusion Academy and formerly played for Alliance FC Academy, narrowed his choices down to Maryville or Baker.
“I think the higher level Maryville has in academics, they have a good cyber security program that I wanted to go into,” he said of what made him choose one over the other.
He first ran into Maryville’s coaching staff at a summer camp and the conversation maintained throughout the season, which Park Hill finished as district runners-up to Staley.
Coach David Korn made the drive from St. Louis to Kansas City to watch Caldwell play this past fall.
The Saints are a top 25 team in Division II and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals last year.
Lachowitzer, a second-team all-conference pick at forward, is staying closer to home and ending up in Atchison, Kan.
It has been nearly a life-long goal of Lachowitzer to don the black-and-red of the Ravens.
He started going to games when he was 9 years old to watch his brother-in-law, Parker Malott, play for BC.
“I wanted to go there my whole life,” he said. “I went to several games with my parents and I fell in love with it.”
The Ravens extended an offer to Lachowitzer in October and he told coach John Sosa he would become a Raven on Nov. 7. He also had an offer from Baker, like Caldwell, but decided on BC, a member of the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
Lachowitzer, also a member of the KC Fusion Academy like Caldwell, will be a business major at BC.
Contributed photo
Park Hill’s Matt Lachowitzer, left, and Cameron Caldwell, recently signed to continue playing soccer at the next level. Lachowitzer will play for Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan., while Caldwell will play for Maryville University in St. Louis.