San Bernardino Valley College Women's Soccer forward Maria Cariño (Norte Vista H.S.) has signed a letter of intent with Kansas Wesleyan University.

Cariño played her freshman season with the Wolverines earning the title of captain entering her sophomore season when she was sidelined with a season ending knee injury just four games into the campaign. Cariño scored two goals while notching three assists in 23 total games played for Valley College.  More impressively, she battled back from a severe knee injury to return to the pitch and realize her dream of receiving a scholarship and continuing to play soccer at the 4-year level.

Cariño follows several talented Valley College alumnae who also attended KWU including three players from Valley’s 2010 State Championship team including Lauren Evans, Araceli Sanchez, Crystal Sanchez, and Cynthia Chavez who played in 2013 and 2014 for the Wolverines.

Kansas Wesleyan University is in Salina, Kansas in the north central region of the state. The KWU Coyotes play in the Graves Family Sports Complex and the team is coached by head coach, Henrick Sohn in his 2nd year at the helm. The Coyotes have a long history of success and the 2020 season showed the same result. The team was 14-5-1 overall, had a 9-2 record in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference and advanced the NAIA National Championships.