STARKVILLE – Three new faces will be joining the Mississippi State soccer program this spring. The trio arriving in Starkville will feature a two-time Offensive Player of the Year honoree, professional experience with a national team and a two-time County Player of the Year recipient.
The three transfers will be coming from two different states, in addition to Mississippi, and their hometowns represent three different countries.
“The staff has worked incredibly hard in this window to add three incredibly exciting players to our spring roster,” head coach James Armstrong said. “All of them have outstanding character and made it clear their intentions to want to improve themselves at State. We can’t wait for these three to join our five [freshmen] early enrollees this spring. It gives us a great opportunity to really get a good idea of what the fall could potentially look like.”
Originally from Cali, Colombia, Izquierdo has experience training and competing with both the U20 and full Colombian women’s national team. The sophomore midfielder has recently been named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District team, and she also earned All-Sun Belt Second Team recognition. As a freshman at Southern Miss, Izquierdo made the C-USA Commissioner’s Honor Roll and was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-South Region team. Her standout, rookie campaign earned her C-USA First Team All-Conference honors as well as C-USA All-Freshman team honors. The Colombian was named C-USA’s Freshman of the Year and was also a member of the C-USA All-Tournament team.
“Ilana brings experience, energy and awareness. Her experience representing Colombia at the U20 World Cup and full national team training camp will be invaluable for our locker room.”
A two-time Northeastern Conference Player of the Year (2021-22), the Madrid, Spain, native also arrives in Starkville with a Rookie of the Year credited to her name. The sophomore forward most recently made the NEC All-Tournament team. In her rookie season, Martinez-Montoya finished as the team leader in goals (8), points (19), shots (57), shots on goal (31) and minutes played (1,530). The freshman would pick up four postseason awards after her first collegiate season: NEC Offensive Player of the Year, First Team All-NEC, NEC Rookie of the Year and NEC…
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