BY CANDY PADILLA AND CHRIS CORREA
Turlock Journal
A key force within the Turlock High girls soccer program is ready for the next chapter of her playing and educational career.
On Wednesday afternoon, Isis Cosio signed her National Letter of Intent to study and compete at the University of California, Merced.
Family and friends, as well as her coaches and teammates, joined her for a special signing ceremony, a moment she described as years in the making.
“I started thinking of playing at the next level my freshman year,” Cosio said. “I had in mind that I didn’t want to stop playing soccer after high school and wanted to go to the next level.”
A three-year varsity starter, including being the Bulldogs’ captain her junior and senior seasons, Cosio has racked up 17 goals and assisted 21 times in a whopping 1482 minutes over 56 matches. This past winter, she was second on the playoff-bound Bulldogs with nine goals and six assists. As the team went 13-7-3 and won a play-in game for the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Division I postseason, Cosio was honored with the program’s Offensive Player of the Year nod and a second straight year named to the All-CCAL Second Team.
The standout forward emphasized her appreciation for head coach Nicole Lonergan for allowing her the opportunity to play a major role at the varsity level for three years, including in the 2023 season in which the ‘Dogs went undefeated in the Central California Athletic League.
“Coach Lonergan had a lot of trust in me in all my years of playing, which I will always thank her for,” Cosio said. It was a sentiment returned to the senior.
“I think that the accolades themselves say a lot about the kind of player that she is,” Lonergan said. “Statistics do tell us a lot, but I think what tells us even more about the kind of player she is, which is going to lead her to be successful at the next level, is the kind of leader that she is.
“She loves the sport so much, and you see it when she plays, in her dedication, her competitiveness, her effort, her hard work. I think all of those things made her extremely successful here, and I know she had success in the club (Albion SC Merced), and that all got her to where she is today.”
Cosio, who plans to enter UC Merced’s Public Health program, shared that Bobcats first expressed interest towards the end of the first semester of the current school year, and felt that the athletic and educational fit was natural.
“The style of play at UC Merced fits the exact style I play,” she said. “Coach Roman (DuChateau)'s leadership with the team also made me very interested.”
Cosio will walk into a Bobcat program that is coming off one of their most successful years in history. After claiming a share of the California Pacific Conference regular season championship (their first since 2016), they finished the 2024 season in the NAIA Women's Soccer Quarterfinal Round with an overall record of 12-4-2. The best national tournament run by any sport in UC Merced history, they had an at-large berth to the dance and knocked off #15 Embry-Riddle and #4 Campbellsville to advance to the NAIA quarterfinal round. They finished ranked No. 9 in the NAIA Women's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Poll – Postseason, the highest of any UC Merced team in any sport all-time.
Statistically, the club tied for fourth in the country with just eight goals allowed and a 0.44 goals against average and also tied for seventh in the NAIA and for first on the West Coast with 13 shutouts.
Next season, UC Merced will begin competing in NCAA Division II as a CCAA member and will be fully eligible for postseason in the 2026 campaign, and they’ll be doing so with more Bulldogs, as former teammates Macy Max and Emma Schwinden will be transferring into the program.
“I think that that is also just like a really special thing, because these opportunities don't come up very often,” Lonergan said regarding the imminent reunion of THS alumni.
While Cosio expressed pride in the wins and accolades, she is particularly appreciative of the relationships she has built.
“I am very proud of the longtime friendships I made while playing soccer,” Cosio said. “(My time with) THS Soccer will be one of my favorite memories that I will never forget.”
