Sports
Ohio Enhances Defense In 2014 Recruiting Class
By: Sean Neidig
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The Ohio soccer team announced the additions of seven new recruits to the program on Thursday. The group included four defenders, two forwards and one goalkeeper.
Four of the players came out of the Ohio Elite Soccer Academy in Cincinnati, Ohio, one of the top soccer academies in the Midwest. Five of the new recruits are from the state of Ohio.
The defenders are Megan Niebuhr and Lauren Heger from Ohio Elite, Katie McCurley from Sockers FC in Chicago, Ill., and Celeste Fushimi-Karnes from Ohio Premier of Columbus.
The forwards are Hannah Jaggers from the Kentucky Fire Juniors out of Louisville, Ky., and Allie Curry from Ohio Elite.
The lone goalkeeper in the class is Brooke Mauro, from Ohio Elite. She will join seniors Nicole Amari and Rachel Fryan in the competition for the goalie spot. The Bobcats will be without their all-time saves leader, Mattie Liston, whose college eligibility ended following her senior year this past season.
The most notable recruit for Ohio head coach Aaron Rodgers is Niebuhr. TopDrawerSoccer.com ranks the defender No. 132 in the IMG Academy 150 and as the 12th-ranked player in the Great Lakes Region. Heger was ranked No. 25 in the regional rankings.
The Bobcats finished last season at 7-8-5 (3-6-3), which slotted the team in third in the MAC East. The team graduated four seniors from last year’s squad and will return 22 players with one-plus years of eligibility.
Ohio is expected to announce its eighth and final recruit later, tweeting, “We need a little more time (and paperwork) before tweeting about our last member of the 2014 class.”