SMITHTOWN, N.Y. — Alicia D'Aoust already was wearing a U.S. Soccer jersey at 13 years old, as part of national team training in Portland, Ore.

By ninth grade, she had earned first-team all-state honors with county finalist Smithtown West High School and had publicly committed to Rutgers.

Now, the 5-foot-4 D'Aoust is set to join the Stony Brook women's soccer team as a transfer for the upcoming academic year. She will reunite with longtime friend and former prep teammate Jillian Unkenholz with the Seawolves.

D'Aoust will serve as an attacking midfielder or forward during her Stony Brook tenure.

"Alicia was a well-known and highly recruited youth player on Long Island," coach Tobias Bischof said. "I am thrilled she decided to return to Suffolk County. Her professionalism, work ethic and outstanding talent will have a very positive impact on our team."
 
D'Aoust redshirted her freshman year in 2018 at Rutgers while dealing with a recurring hip flexor issue, which had surfaced the week before the regular season began.

Last season, she made her collegiate debut against Fordham on Aug. 25. She ultimately earned Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and Academic All-Big Ten honors.

"I'm mostly a winger — mainly left wing. I really thrive on the flanks, because I really like taking people one-versus-one, and I like to be creative," D'Aoust said.

Academics fueled D'Aoust's decision to transfer to Stony Brook, only minutes from her family's Smithtown home.

When she first committed to Rutgers back in the ninth grade, career ambitions were not a consideration. But D'Aoust subsequently determined she wanted to become an occupational therapist after her schooling. That's a perfect match for Stony Brook, which boasts the School of Health Technology and Management's three-year graduate program in addition to the preparatory undergraduate coursework.

Couple the academic goals with her friendship with Unkenholz, who will be her housemate beginning this fall, along with the other rising sophomores, and it made transferring a no-brainer.

"Stony Brook has a really good grad program for occupational therapy," D'Aoust said. "And I'll be studying health science now. So it works out pretty well.

"And Jill Unkenholz and I are really good friends. Our families are friends, too. We've been out to dinner so many times as families. I'm really happy I'm going to get to play with her again."

Said Unkenholz: "My dad actually coached her when she was about four years old, when she was on my older sister's team. Our families are very close, and our dads are best friends."

D'Aoust's resumé includes three all-state selections in high school and three Newsday All-Long Island honors during a varsity career that began in the eighth grade. She may have earned more distinctions, but she spent her senior year with the U.S. Soccer Development Academy rather than competing with Smithtown West.

"One goal she scored in high school stands out in my mind," Unkenholz said. "She had to jump probably four feet in the air and bump the ball in from an impossible angle with her thigh. There was a picture of the goal in Newsday at the time.

"But as talented as she is, Alicia is very down to earth and humble. She is the nicest person I know, and a great teammate. I was so happy she decided to join our team at Stony Brook, not only because of her talent, but also because of who she is as a person. She is one of my best friends."

Said Bischof: "I can't wait to start working with Alicia and integrate her into our system and style of play."