Canadian Senior National Team Player Among Five Oregon Soccer Signees
EUGENE, Ore. ? Canadian Senior National Team player Julie Armstrong highlights a class of five women’s soccer players who have signed National Letters of Intent to play for Oregon, head coach Tara Erickson announced on Thursday.
Armstrong, a 17-year-old forward from Delta, B.C., earned her first start for Canada’s senior team on January 20 versus Finland at the Four Nations Tournament in Guangzhou, China. She appeared in all three matches for Canada during the tournament, in which her country went 0-1-2. Armstrong, who teamed with 2005 national player of the year Christine Sinclair (University of Portland) on the Canadian squad, will also be among a pool of players considered for Canada’s 2008 Olympic Games team.
Armstrong played for two club programs during her junior career, the Vancouver Whitecaps and Surrey United Metro. While with Surrey, she led her team to three gold medals and four silvers in national junior competition. She also played basketball and volleyball at Delta Secondary School, where she was selected as the 2006 athlete of the year.
"We’re looking forward to having a player of her level coming into the program," said Erickson. "We’ve never had a player with her background, her skills, her feel for the game coming in as a freshman. She’s dangerous in front of the goal and not afraid of getting physical. She’s excited to come here and help set the tone for the future of this program."
Armstrong was just one of five signees that Erickson said will help fill some needs of what should be a veteran club in 2008.
"When you look at our roster, we certainly will have some terrific senior experience, but we also knew there were areas where we needed to upgrade our talent and depth and those are two areas we addressed with this recruiting class. Julie Armstrong is certainly the five-star player so to speak, but I’m very pleased with all five players who we signed, and they will have the opportunity to compete and make us a better team in the fall."
The Ducks stayed in state to bolter their goalkeeping depth with the signing of Cody Miles of Salem. She led Sprague High School to the second round of the 2007 state playoffs with nine shutouts. She was named the Central Valley Conference’s 2007 co-player of the year and the Salem Statesman Journal’s all-region player of the year. Miles also led her club team, Lake Oswego, to the 2007 state championship.
Miles is another 2008 signee with national playing experience. She is a member of the Olympic Development Program regional team and was invited to the 2006 ODP U-16 national camp in New Jersey.
"Cody is a great athlete and has real natural instincts in goal," said Erickson. "She’s got national team experience and a great attitude about the game. She’s from Oregon and very excited about becoming a Duck."
Erickson dipped into California to sign defenders Taylor Jones and Haley Wilson. Jones, from Newport Beach, Calif., played for Mater Dei High School and the Slammers FC club team. Mater Dei was the CIF Division I champions in 2007, while Slammers FC won back-to-back national club titles in 2005 and 2006.
"Taylor comes from a great club background and she’s a player we think will give us some depth on the back line," said Erickson. "She’s a tough, left-footed defender who will develop into a steady defender for us."
Wilson, from Ventura, Calif., played defense both for Ventura High School and the Eagles club team. She was named the Channel League defensive player of the year in 2007. Also that year, she led her club team to the state, regional and national USYSA championship.
"Haley is a mentally tough, hard-nosed defender, who can get forward well out of the back," said Erickson. "She also comes from a great club program in the Eagles that really develops kids for the college game."
Midfielder Lauren Thompson of Edmonds, Wash., rounds out Oregon 2008 recruiting class. Thompson is an all-around athlete who not only helped King’s High School to a pair top-four finishes in the state tournament during her career, but also helped King’s win the 2006 state girl’s basketball title and finish second in cross country in 2004. She was a two-time all-league selection in soccer. Thompson also played for the Fenix 89 Red club team and was invited to the 2006 Super Y ODP national camp.
"Lauren gives 100 percent at whatever role she’s in," said Erickson. "We became more and more impressed every time we saw her. She’s very versatile and can play several positions."
Erickson also announced that walk-on midfielder Catherine Brothers has joined the team. She is a redshirt freshman from Walnut Creek, Calif., who was going to join the squad in the fall, but delayed that due to an injury. Brothers was a two-time all-league player for Los Lomas High School. She will be eligible to participate in Oregon’s spring season.
The Ducks graduated two players off it’s 2007 roster, four-year starter at defensive stopper Dylann Tharp and three-year stater at forward Tiffany Smith.
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