Lansing girls soccer duo commit to Johnson & Wales

Two of Lansing girls soccer’s finest are taking their talents to Rhode Island.

Lulani Haslinger and Ava Wilder have both committed to Johnson & Wales University and will play for the school’s Division III women’s soccer program.

Haslinger was the first of the duo to commit to the Wildcats, and there were multiple factors outside of soccer that went into picking the right school.

“I was looking for a city location, and then a school that wasn’t too big but also not too small,” Haslinger said. “Johnson & Wales has really small classroom sizes, I think 20 kids in the classroom, but their school has about 6,000 kids that go there for undergrad, so that was perfect for me.”

After Johnson & Wales went to see Haslinger at a tournament, Wilder also caught their eye, so they texted her after one of the games and said that they were interested in bringing her to the Wildcats. When Haslinger officially committed, Wilder soon followed suit.

“[Lulani’s commitment] definitely did have an impact,” Wilder said. “I was looking at a bunch of other schools just randomly in Pennsylvania and some in New York, but I was never really connected to any of them. When Lulani committed, I thought it’d be really cool to play together again — because we’ve been playing together since we were like 10 or 11 — so I thought that [it would be] really fun.”

That wasn’t the first time Haslinger was involved in a major life choice for her longtime teammate. Wilder used to attend school in Dryden but was able to switch schools in ninth grade because her mother works in Lansing. While Haslinger said she didn’t convince Wilder to come to Lansing, she felt she had an influence on her given how strong a bond they share.

“We’ve been super close since we were younger,” Wilder said. “We’ve traveled to tournaments together for club [soccer], so I feel like we’ve gotten really close, and our families are super close, as well.”

Both Bobcats join a Wildcats team that is coming off a record-breaking 2022 campaign. Johnson & Wales set a single-season milestone with 19 wins — 18 of which were done consecutively — and were crowned Great Northeast Atlantic Conference champions for the third straight year. Haslinger will bolster the Wildcats’ attack, while Wilder will strengthen the defense.

“For school, I play center mid, but for club, I mostly play winger and forward,” Haslinger said. “So, I hope to bring speed, goals, a positive attitude, [and being] a good teammate.”

“I probably won’t be scoring as many goals as Lulani will be, but I love defending,” Wilder said “If I were to play as a defensive mid, it’d be kind of different for me because I don’t really play there during club. When I play there for school, I have a lot more confidence, but for club, I always get it back to the center back, so I think either will be a fun position to play.”

Haslinger and Lulani were instrumental in delivering yet another successful season for Lansing. The Bobcats finished 12-3-2 with a IAC North Large Division title. Haslinger led the team with 11 goals and five assists, while Wilder was close behind with nine goals and four assists. Despite moving up to Class B and losing their entire back line and goalkeeper from the season prior, the Bobcats overcame those obstacles to have a positive season.

“Going into this year, people had lower expectations because we did lose a lot of impactful players on our team last year,” Wilder said. “But I think we really rose to the occasion, and we won our division, so I feel like that’s really big for us this year. Moving up to Class B, we knew it was going to be really tough, but I think we were still able to hold our own, and I thought it was a great season.”

Although Haslinger and Wilder will be over 300 miles away from home, they’ll remember many valuable lessons from their time with the Bobcats under head coach Eric Stickel.

“I think the main thing coach Stickel’s always told us is that we can’t go in cocky and we always have to be confident, especially these past few years because we have been a really strong team,” Wilder said. “I feel like going in, we both have to go in confident because we know we’re good players, but it will be college so it’s gonna be a lot tougher than it is now, so I feel like we just have to go in with a positive mindset.”

Haslinger added, “Little details matter.”

“When we line up for games and line up in two lines in formation, we do the same things every time,” Haslinger said. “So, I think [coach Stickel’s] really talking about rituals and things like that can help you stay focused and be ready for big games.”

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