Two local high school soccer stars are ready to move on to greater challenges, but want to stay close enough to visit family.

Freedom High forward Catherine Carter, a three-year varsity soccer player, recently signed her letter of intent to attend Holy Names University in Oakland. A few days before Carter signed on the dotted line, Heritage goalkeeper Nico Charvet made his college choice – Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, near San Francisco.

Charvet, recently named the Bay Valley Athletic League Defensive Player of the Year, said he enjoyed the small campus at Notre Dame de Namur and felt comfortable with the Argonauts’ coaching staff.

He appreciated that the campus is far enough from Brentwood to help him gain independence, but close enough that he won’t need to book a flight for a home-cooked meal.

Charvet plans to study kinesiology and become a physical therapist after college.

Patriots head coach Alex Valdivia said Charvet was the backbone of the team, as Heritage’s last line of defense: “It’s rare to hear from a coach that his best player is a keeper. I see this player, this student, being very successful in the years to come – not only on the soccer field but as a person.”

Carter, a second-team all-league selection, helped the BVAL champion Falcons to one of their most successful seasons ever. She looks forward to continuing a winning tradition for the Holy Names Hawks, who most recently won the California Pacific Conference.

Carter is stellar off the pitch as well. She holds a 3.5 grade point average and plans to study criminology at Holy Names. Carter wants to become a police officer or work in some capacity where she’s helping people.

“She had some clutch moments for us this year,” said Falcons head coach Paco Gonzalez. “The girls looked up to her. When she had the ball, the girls were confident that she was going to be able to make a play.”