USU women’s soccer welcomes eight signees — seven from Utah
Utah State soccer added eight new recruits for the upcoming 2018 season. Seven of the new signees are in-state players, which includes two locals from Cache Valley.
Sammie Murdock (Providence, Utah/Ridgeline HS) and Marli Niederhauser (Mendon, Utah/Ridgeline HS) hail from right here in Cache Valley, and will be joining future teammates Marren Nielsen (Orem, Utah/Timpview HS), Hallee Jones (Draper, Utah/Corner Canyon HS), Sara Noel (Centerville, Utah/Woods Cross HS), Rachel Noel (Centerville, Utah/Woods Cross HS), Kelsey Salvesen (Provo, Utah/Timpview HS), and Jordan Forarker (Anchorage, Alaska/South Anchorage HS) this upcoming season under the direction of head coach Heather Cairns.
Forarker will be joining the squad from South Anchorage (Alaska) High School. She will finish her career in the spring, due to Alaska high school soccer taking place then. During her junior season, the forward/midfielder had 46 assists and scored 49 goals. To add to her high school career, Forarker is also a two-time all-conference honoree and has earned all state honors. Along with club play, Forarker has been named a five-time Alaska Olympic Development Program (ODP) selection.
Halle Jones is coming to Logan from Draper, Utah where she played for Corner Canyon HIgh School. As a forward, her high school career ended with 38 goals and 47 assists, and earned first-team all-region honors each year of playing for Corner Canyon. To end her senior season, Jones was named the Utah Region 7 MVP along with being named to the all-state first team after helping the Chargers claim the region title. Like fellow teammate Forarker, Jones was an ODP selection (for Utah) in 2012.
Sammie Murdock comes to Utah State from nearby Providence, Utah. After starting her high school career at Mountain Crest HIgh School, she played out her senior season at Ridgeline High School. Murdock is both a defender and a forward, and is a three-time all-valley honoree. She led both of her teams to the state tournament, going as far as the quarterfinals each season. Murdock has graduated a semester early and has since joined the team this January for winter workouts.
Marli Neiderhauser is another local Cache Valley native who is set to graduate from Ridgeline High School. Before the opening of Ridgeline, she played her high school career at Mountain Crest High School. As a forward, she scored a total of 22 goals in her three years of high school play, where she earned all-valley accolades three times, and all-state honors twice. Neiderhauser did not play soccer her senior year, but was in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy with her club team, La Roca. Like two other new Aggies, Neiderhauser is a three-time ODP selection.
Hailing from Orem, Utah, Marren Nielsen has played a four-year high school career at Timpview High School as a goalkeeper. As a senior, Nielsen has clocked 485 minutes of play and has recorded five shutouts. The former Thunderbird is a two-time all-state honoree and has taken her team to the state semifinals twice and to a state title in 2016.
Rachel Noel is from Centerville, Utah, and is a four-year letterwinner from Woods Cross High School. As goalkeeper, she assisted her team in a 9-2-4 record last season, where Noel had two shutouts. As a recipient of second-team all-state honors as a junior, she along with her team won a region title in 2017.
Twin sister to Rachel Noel, Sara Noel will be joining the Aggies from Woods Cross High School as well. Playing as a forward, she finished out her high school career with 21 goals and was a two-time all-state honoree after helping her team to the 2017 region championship. Off of the field, Noel also was a three-year letterwinner for basketball.
To round out the new incoming Aggies is Kelsey Salvesen from Provo, Utah who also played for Timpview High School. Playing defense for her team, Salvesen was a three-year starter for her high school also earned two all-state accolades, along with all-region honors every year of her career. This past week, Salvesen was dubbed the Utah Youth Soccer Association Female TOSH Athlete of the Year.
Utah State will welcome back six returning starters and 13 total players to the field this upcoming fall. The 2018 schedule will be released later this spring. USU ended the 2017 season with an overall record of 9-7-3, and went 4-5-2 in the Mountain West.