Allendale, Mich. – Grand Valley State was always where Tara Lierman wanted to spend her college years. Even though she would have come to Allendale even without a chance to play soccer, the three-time All-Capital Area Activities Conference Blue Division honoree won't have to worry about her athletic career ending anytime soon.
 
A versatile midfielder, Lierman, currently a senior at Holt High School, is arguably the top prep player in the Lansing area this season. This praise comes roughly a year after she was a Michigan High School Soccer Coaches Association Division 1 All-State Honorable Mention plaudit.
 
"(She) has been trained very well through TNT and the Michigan Olympic Development Program. Her style of play is going to fit well with ours," says head coach Jeff Hosler. "She has an exception soccer IQ and can play a great multitude of positions. Earlier this year I watched her settle the game down at holding mid and then finish the match up top, scoring two goals in a league championship match."
 
Her versatility is not limited to the pitch either. In addition to soccer, Lierman played four seasons of varsity basketball and earned a varsity letter as a member of the Rams' volleyball team in 2011.
 
Although she enjoyed both of those sports, soccer had a special quality she admired.
 
"It's never the same. I played basketball my whole life, and with all of the set plays and whatnot, it was sometimes easy to predict what a team was going to do," she says. "With soccer, you can never predict what the other team is going to do."
 
Hosler expects Lierman to resemble former Laker Charlie Socia, meaning she is a possession-oriented player who knows how and where to deliver the proper pass at the right time. Moreover, she relishes the execution of details.
 
While her athleticism and style of play will be welcomed, perhaps her greatest quality isn't something that can be measured by results and statistics.
 
"She is a great competitor and a natural leader, the type of player that has put her team on her back to achieve greatness," says Hosler. "You can see it in the way her teammates respond to her."
 
Once her senior year at Holt comes to a close, the next phase of her career, one she is very much looking forward to, will begin. Striving toward a common goal and the group's passion for the game is what has Lierman most excited about becoming a Laker.
 
"With some high school and club teams, not everyone is as invested. But I know I'm going to a program where everyone takes soccer very seriously," says Lierman.