One of the 12 recruits joining the University of Northern Colorado women’s soccer team later this year will come to the program with a different background and level of play on the pitch.

Longtime Bears coach Tim Barrera described a part of Evangelina Arocho’s experiences in the game as unique.

Arocho, a 17-year-old from Jacksonville, Florida, this month is playing with the Puerto Rico Under-20 National Team in regional World Cup qualifying matches.

Barrera said more U.S.-born players are playing with other countries’ national teams. Arocho’s father was born in Puerto Rico. She was born in North Carolina while her parents were stationed at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville. A parents’ birthplace can determine a player’s eligibility for a national team.

Arocho’s unique opportunity comes from participating in a higher level of national team competition, Barrera said. Puerto Rico is currently going through CONCACAF qualifying matches. CONCACAF is the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football, which is one of six continental confederations of FIFA. FIFA is the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, the international governing body of football (called soccer in the U.S.).

The U.S. is also a member association of CONCACAF.

Barrera said it’s significant for him and for the UNC program to have Arocho playing in a CONCACAF event.

“It’s a totally different level of competition from a standpoint of what they’re playing for,” Barrera said. “The environment that she’s going to be in going forward is pretty significant.”

The FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup will be played in August 2026 in Poland.

Puerto Rico is one of 24 teams in CONCACAF qualifying matches Feb. 20-25 in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Antigua and Barbuda and Trinidad and Tobago. Teams are organized into six 4-team groups.

Puerto Rico is playing in Group B with El Salvador, Honduras and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Puerto Rico won its first two matches as of Saturday afternoon and was atop the group standings.

Teams began qualifying with round-robin matches in each group. The six group winners advance to the CONCACAF U-20 Women’s Championship in May, where they will join the association top-ranked teams Mexico and the U.S.

Those eight teams — Mexico, the U.S. and the six group winners — will be divided into two groups of four for round-robin matches. Four teams, the two group winners and runners up, advance to the World Cup in Poland.

Arocho, a midfielder and forward, previously played for Puerto Rico’s U-17 National Team including in CONCACAF qualifying and championship matches.

Barrera described Arocho as “a player who likes the ball,” and she might lean more to being a playmaker than goal scorer, he added.

Arocho scored 18 goals and recorded nine assists in her junior and senior seasons at Atlantic Coast High. She was first-team all-conference and all-state both years, according to Atlantic Coast coach Kenny Mukasa. Arocho was picked as a player to watch ahead of the 2024-25 season by the Florida Times Union in Jacksonville.

Atlantic Coast’s season started in early November and ended in early February.

“She’s versatile,” Barrera said. “She can play wide. She can play in the middle. She played in all of those spots. We just know she’s a versatile player that’s going to get better.”