Burlington Central High School’s Darcy Mickalow is heading to maybe the top academic school — Rice University is ranked No. 15 academically — among her Bayhawks teammates.

“It’s the Ivy (League school) of the south,” said Downey of the Houston, Texas university, where converted right back Mickalow will play.

He wagered that Mickalow, switched from centre forward during her U15 year, would be a “super” right back. Rice’s keen interest suggests the Bayhawks coach was right.

“I had played forward for my entire soccer career and at U15 I wasn’t enjoying playing at all,” Mickalow said. “Casey urged me to try playing right defence and it was the best decision. A few months later I was offered a scholarship from Rice.”

Downey, who teaches at Notre Dame, had two players doing double duty for his Fighting Irish and Bayhawks teams.

Deanna Ellison, who filled a number of positions with the Bayhawks, was one of the last of the players to commit, accepting a scholarship to Long Island Brooklyn in the Big Apple.

“I love New York City and LIU is just across the Brooklyn Bridge,” Ellison said. “More importantly, LIU has the health science program I want to study.”

She credits her first rep coach, Bob McLaughlin, and Downey for her success in the sport, and hopes to help her Fighting Irish reach OFSAA in the spring.

Midfielder Nakita Schofield joined Downey’s Bayhawks for only one year after playing up an age group with her father Neil’s Bayhawks teams. She caught the eye of Miami, Ohio coaches at their ID camp and committed at the same time as the rest of the group.

Nelson’s Emily Wakeford is the only one among the 19 who moved up the ranks as an A player in Burlington since she started playing rep. She took up the sport at age three. She was BYSC female player of the year,

“It’s a great selection,” Downey said of the provincial-level centre forward. “She led the team in goals, is blazing fast… an original A player, the only one.”

Wakeford joins teammate Morgan at Rhode Island.

“The location is beautiful and the facilities are amazing,” Wakeford said. “They are very good at what they do and keep their team connected like a family. I can’t wait to be a part of that.”

Centre back Kristi King of Corpus Christi originally committed to the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), but interest from Nebraska after she performed well at a holiday showcase event put the wheels in motion for the change.

“We strongly discourage players from leaving a school they committed to, but it was a massive upgrade for her in terms of quality of soccer program,” said Downey. “She’s dominant in the air and real finessey, a quality technical player.”

The King family was bowled over when touring the Cornhuskers facilities.

Mathieu, an M.M. Robinson high school student, is taking the year off, then applying to Canadian universities next year.

According to her father, Mel, Samantha is still deciding whether to return to competitive soccer or pursue other athletic interests, including hockey.

There are two Bayhawks from Waterdown. Sam Hewick, a fast, strong athlete who committed to Central Michigan, has all the intangibles you can’t teach, according to Downey.

Val Gladiator, off to Eastern Michigan, is a small, nifty striker, great with the ball, creative, more of a playmaker than scorer.

“Eastern Michigan, they know what they’re getting (from the Bayhawks) and they know what they want. She’ll fit quite nicely there.”

Left back Kristina Vassallo of Mississauga was expected to stay in Ontario for her post-secondary education like her two older sisters, but a scholarship offer by nearby Niagara University proved too good to pass up.

“She keeps getting better and better and is absolutely capable of playing in the U.S.,” commented Downey.

Emily Borgmann, also of Mississauga, played only one season (2013) for the Bayhawks since she was part of the REX (regional exceleration program) in Vaughan.

She played in the U17 World Cup, won a Burlington Youth Soccer Club player-of-the-year award, and was the last player to commit, going to Wisconsin, the highest-rated U.S. women’s soccer school (No. 9) among the Bayhawks girls.

The striker’s secret to success is simple, says her coach.

“She puts the ball in the net, and she’s a bulldog.”

Elite centre midfielder Cassie Wheldon of Waterloo is a provincial player who could boast that she, in a way, recruited Downey, who had coached her older sister in Burlington.

Downey asked Cassie’s mother if Cassie would play in Burlington, and she replied yes, if Downey were coaching.

“Done,” laughed Downey, who, at the time, hadn’t accepted the Bayhawks coaching job.

Now Cassie is off to Cincinnati, a big school that heavily recruited Wheldon to play in the talent-laden American Athletic Conference.

Keagin Collie of Fonthill, multi-year Canadian wrestling champion and a 97-plus-average student, isn’t too bad at soccer, either.

“Her core is unbelievable — she is possibly the strongest physical player in her age group,” said Downey of the centre mid, who could have taken a good academic scholarship in Canada but, quite simply, wants to play soccer. She decided to accept a lucrative scholarship to Dayton.

Two Bayhawks will make North Carolina home for the next four years playing for UNCC — Charlotte — in the fall.

Hannah Rempel, a wide midfielder, is all skill and speed, but not big, a provincial player from Waterloo. Oakville’s Carling Goold, the leader in the Bayhawks backfield, is nasty, hard to play against and really physical. And all of the comments are meant as compliments from Downey.

Oakville’s Sarah Nixon turned down a few scholarship offers, hoping to gain interest from schools such as Cornell or Columbia.

“Those schools are hard to get into,” said Downey. “They don’t come to a lot of events. These really great academic schools can be picky.”

Nixon, a wide midfielder and forward, decided to attend Queen’s, but like Almeida, it’s not out of the question that something could happen in the next couple of months to change her destination.

“She’s got U.S. type talent,” said her coach.