Camden — Former Midcoast athletic standout Melanie Vangel of Camden, one of the Northeast's most talented high school soccer players, has made a verbal commitment to attend and play sports for Dartmouth College in the Ivy League after graduating high school in 2014.

Dartmouth, in Hanover, N.H., is a Division I school.

The forward, who plays for SoccerPlus out of Connecticut, has a player rating of four out of five stars, according to the website Top Drawer Soccer.com

In fact, Vangel was ranked 11th among Northeast recruits. Attending a major tournament in Florida on an team from Connecticut gave her the national exposure she had been getting on a more regional level.

In the fall, Vangel, a former athletic standout at Camden Hills Regional High School and Camden-Rockport Middle School, received Connecticut Girls Soccer Coaches' Association All-State prep school honors for her standout play on the pitch.

Vangel is a junior student-athlete at Loomis Chaffee School.

The Pelican were led by second-year coach Carey O’Brien, who joined the Loomis Chaffee team after spending eight seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Connecticut. She also is a former professional player.

The foundation of Loomis Chaffee squad is based on a commitment to the team, a desire to work hard, and dedication to the sport. While all players are encouraged to participate in a variety of sports and extracurricular activities, many play soccer throughout the year and have aspirations of playing college soccer, O'Brien said.

One of those is Vangel, who, as a freshman at Camden Hills (before transferring to Cape Elizabeth as a sophomore and then to Loomis as a junior), was the most dynamic, explosive offensive threat in the Midcoast, compiling 32 goals and three assists.

Recent Loomis graduates have continued on to play at Boston College, Columbia University in New York City, Penn State in University Park, Pa., Stanford in California, Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C. and the University of Connecticut.

A perennial contender for the New England championship, Loomis has proven to be one of the top teams in the area and attracts some of the most talented student-athletes from across the country, as well as internationally. The team has won five New England Class A titles since 2000.

The Loomis Chaffee School is an internationally-recognized college preparatory school for grades 9-12 that fosters critical thinking and a global perspective in talented students. Since 1914, the school has offered educational opportunities for boys and girls. This year, Loomis Chaffee awarded $7.9 million in financial aid to 34 percent of the student body. The school's 650 students represent 31 countries and 30 U.S. states.

The school has 60 interscholastic varsity, junior varsity and freshmen teams. Loomis Chaffee is a member of the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC), and a member of the Founders League, a group of 10 Connecticut private schools that compete for the title in 25 sports.

Courier Publications sports staff can be reached by phone at 207-594-4401 or by email at sports@courierpublicationsllc.com.