The Illinois State soccer team has inked four recruits for the 2004 season. Shannon Duggan of Beaumont, Alberta, Shannon Durocher from Mokena, Ill., Erica Goethel from Ann Arbor, Mich. and Jaclyn Roepke from St. Louis, Mo., will all be Redbirds later this year.
Duggan, a defender at Beaumont Composite High, was a gold medalist at the 2003 Canadian National All-Star Championships. She also captained that team in addition to captaining the Millwoods Warriors Provincial U-16 champions in 2002 and the Alberta U-16 All-Star Gold Medalists at the USA Cup in Minnesota in 2002. Duggans team also won the Western Canada Games in 2003. She was a member of the North West United Major League from 2002-2003, as well as the Edmonton South West United U-18 team and the Alberta U-17 Provincial team in 2003. Athletic genes run in her family as her sister is a member of the Yale womens ice hockey team.
Shannon (Duggan) is a very experienced player and we expect her to adjust well to our style of play, head coach Pete Kowall said. Shes already played at a high level by training with the national teams in Canada.
Durocher, also a defender, is a senior at Lincoln-Way East High. The three-year starter helped lead her team to consecutive regional championships in 2002 and 2003. Durocher, a two-time All-SICA West pick, also earned all-conference honorable mention recognition as a freshman. Her junior year, she was named to the Star Newspaper All-Area team and the Daily Southtown All-Area team. During her sophomore campaign, Durocher led her team in goals and assists on her way to all-sectional honors. She was also a member of the Star Newspaper All-Area team in 2002. Durocher is also an eight-year member of the Windy City Pride club team, a team which she captained in 2000 and 2003.
Shannon (Durocher) has played for the Windy City Pride, a very competitive club team in Chicago, Kowall said. We like her versatility and shell be able to play anywhere on the field.
Goethel is a goalkeeper at Pioneer High in Ann Arbor, Mich. She is a three-time all-conference and all-district selection, in addition to garnering all-region and all-state honors the past two years. Her team won the regional championship in 2003 and was a regional semifinalist in 2002. In 2001, she helped lead her team to the district championship. Goethels been a member of both the ODP (Olympic Development Program) and Vardar Soccer Clubs.
Erica (Goethel) is a talented goalkeeper out of Michigan and we expect her to really battle with our other goalkeeper Andrea Shaw for the starting spot in goal, Kowall said.
Roepke, a defender at Oakville Senior High, will help the Birds out on the back line. The four-year starter is a two-time second team all-state selection. Roepke has been a member of the state Olympic Development Program for the past two years. Prior to that she was on the Olympic Development Region II team. Roepke, who also played basketball her freshman year, helped lead her team to the district championship in soccer that year. The three-time soccer all-conference pick was named Most Outstanding Player on her team after her junior season. Roepkes also earned all-metro recognition two times. As a sophomore she was named team Defensive MVP and was named Rookie of the Year in 2001. Roepke is also a member of the Busch Soccer Club, which finished as state runners up in 2003 and won the Paris and Holland Cups in 2002.
Jackies a good defender, who played with the Busch Soccer Club in St. Louis, Kowall said. Shes a very technical player and she will really help us out in the back.
