Oregon women’s soccer coach Tara Erickson announced the Ducks’ seven-member recruiting class yesterday.
The class of 2007 consists of three top-200 national players according to the online magazine Soccer Buzz, two from Erickson’s former club team the FC Royals, and three from California powerhouse West Coast FC.
“This is a class with both soccer skill and soccer smarts,” Erickson said. “I honestly feel like any one of them could step in to fill a missing gap or displace somebody already on the team.”
Erickson believes that this new class will add strength to the middle length of the field for Oregon.
“A lot of them play in the middle of the field as opposed to the flanks,” Erickson said.
Midfielder Kirstie Kuhns, from Pleasanton, Calif., was named a top-75 player on Soccer Buzz. She was a U-16 National Team pool player, and led Foothill High School to the North Coast Section championship game three years in a row.
Forward Jill Jensen (Puyallup, Wash.) and midfielder Bree Rowe (Federal Way, Wash.) have led the FC Royals to five state club championships, while West Coast FC has won a pair of state club championships under the leadership of new Ducks Sara Plutko, Jennifer Stoltenberg and Mercedes Walters.
Rounding out the 2007 recruiting class is Marissa “Bo” Rael from Alta Loma, Calif. She led Los Osos High School to back-to-back Baseline League championships.