PROVO -- The nine new freshmen players set to kick off their soccer collegiate years at BYU this fall were recently ranked the 17th best recruiting class in the nation by Soccer Buzz Magazine. That's the highest ranking ever for an incoming class in the program's history.
BYU also finished fifth in the West Region behind UCLA, Arizona State, Stanford and California.
All-Americans Brooke Bowman (Plano, TX) and Jennifer Henry-Fielding (Pasco, WA) are two of the highly touted players. Bowman and Fielding will add more strength and depth to BYU's team along with the other seven very experienced and accomplished freshmen.
"This is another exceptional recruiting class for our program. All of the players have a tremendous amount of top-level experience on the club teams and in the Olympic Development Programs, " said BYU coach Jennifer Rockwood. "Nine players is the largest number of recruits we have signed in a given year, but we are so excited about the opportunity to have all of these outstanding young women attend BYU. We anticipate this class to be a core for the future of our program."
Jamie Rendich and Brooke Thulin, from Southern California have trained and played in one of the country's most talented pools of players. Their So. Cal Blues club is considered one of the top youth clubs in the country with a National Youth Championship to prove it. They have also both represented Southern Cal on their State ODP team and on the Region IV ODP team.
Two of the Utah recruits Ashley and Natalie Evans, along with sophomore keeper Amanda Gott, will be vying for the starting goalkeeper spot.
The Cougars open the 2002 season at home on Aug. 30 hosting Final Four team Portland in a 7 p.m. kick off at South Field.