It could have been fate that brought the most prolific soccer player in UL history to the Ragin' Cajuns. Maybe it was the diligence of then-coach Scot Wieland in the recruiting process.

More than likely, it was crazy luck that made Wieland hang around until the end of a major West Coast tournament, and get his first look at Yazmin Montoya.

"I was recruiting at the San Diego Surf Cup, and my assistant and I were leaving, it was almost over," Wieland said. "I turned around and saw a late game being played, and told my assistant I'll be right back, I wanted to get a quick look at that game. That's when I saw Yazmin."

That led to a post-match conversation with Montoya and her family.

"I told her about a school that she literally had never heard of," Wieland said, "and I made an offer for her to come for a visit after I told her about all the great things our school and program had going on. She was polite, but said she'd decided to go to one of the local colleges to play where some of her club teammates were. I said I understood and wished her the best.

"Later I got a call from Yazmin, and she said her brother had encouraged her to at least go for a visit and check out UL just to make sure. I booked her a flight the next weekend and the rest is history."

Four years after that flight, Montoya finished her collegiate career with all of UL's records – most of which still stand a decade later – and a trophy case full of awards. As far as numbers go, nobody before or since has even come close to those accomplishments.

Because of that, Montoya will be inducted into the UL Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday as part of the university's Homecoming celebration, one day before UL meets Sun Belt rival Arkansas State in the annual Homecoming game. She will be inducted along with baseball's Hunter Moody and Eddie Mouton, softball standout Stacie Gremillion, football standout Elijah McGuire and legendary track and field coach Bob Cole at the annual induction ceremony at the UL Student Union Ballroom on McKinley St.

"When I first saw her," Wieland said of that day in San Diego, "I saw her tenacity and her technical ability immediately. It was a moment that I said, wow, she could make a really big impact in our program right away."

The West Covina, Calif., native lived up to those early expectations. As a freshman, she set records that still stand with 31 points, 13 goals (the next highest in UL's record book is 10), 86 shots and 38 shots on goal. But Wieland said even with that success, she never stopped working to improve herself.

"I looked out on the field when I arrived one morning in her freshman year," he said, "and I saw her by herself training … one player, one ball and one mission to be better than she was the day before. That became the measuring stick, her self-motivation when no one was watching and making sure she was going to make her mark at UL."

The next three years she served as a team captain, and earned three first-team All-Louisiana and two first-team All-Sun Belt Conference honors. Three times she led the Cajuns in scoring and twice topped the team in assists even while working through defenses that were designed to slow her down.

"She led by example every day," Wieland said, "and her teammates always gravitated toward her. She was strong on the field, incredibly dependable and she was an amazing captain and team leader. She was our standard for recruiting and our standard for character."

At the end of her senior year in 2016, she held career records for points (67, next closest is 59), goals (26), shots (227, next closest is 151), shots on goal (98, next closest is 72) and penalty kicks (five). She also ranks third all-time in career assists (15), compiling those numbers despite missing several matches with injuries. Her 70 career matches doesn't even hit in UL's top 10, meaning she accomplished more in less time than anyone in UL history.

In one conference match against Texas State, she had a career game with four goals and eight points, which also still stand as school records.

"She's just a soccer junkie," Wieland said, "a student of the game. She could read the field tactically and put herself in positions to see the field better than most. She had a smooth ease with the ball at her feet, and getting herself in the right position and having the ball at her feet was the reason she scored and assisted like she did."

Her most important position, of course, was being on that field in the final game of that San Diego tournament over a decade ago.

"She committed the second she got back home to tell her family about her visit," Wieland said. "We owe her brother a big thank you for pushing her to take that leap. And after that, when I went to a tournament, I always watched the last game at the very last minute to see who was playing, in the hopes of finding that diamond again."juns. Maybe it was the diligence of then-coach Scot Wieland in the recruiting process.