RICHMOND, Ky. – Fresh off a record-breaking season, the Eastern Kentucky University soccer team has signed nine student-athletes to National Letters of Intent, second-year head coach Nick Flohre announced on Friday.
 
The nine signees set to join the defending OVC regular season champions in the fall of 2017 are Billie Clark, Christian Foster, Claire Hicks, Alyssa Julien, Sarah Owusu, Jess Philpot, Katie Shaffer, Kylie Thompson and Taylor Tolle.
 
Billie Clark
 
Clark is a goalkeeper out of Anderson County High School in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. She was a two-time second team All-8^th Region performer and a two-time all-district performer as a junior and senior. She was also a first team academic all-state selection all four years of high school.
 
She played club soccer for both Lexington FC and Bluegrass Soccer Club.
 
"Billie is a local product of Lexington FC," Flohre said. "She's a hardworking and very coachable goalkeeper who will benefit from our training environment and push our returning players to improve as well. Our goalkeeping core is a very tight group and Billie will fit in very well with them."
 
Christian Foster
 
Foster is a high-scoring midfielder/forward out of Bullitt East High School in Mt. Washington, Kentucky. Foster was the leading scorer in the state of Kentucky in both 2015 and 2016, and she holds the Bullitt East High records for goals in a season (63 in 2016) and goals in a career (186). She was a four-time all-region performer (2013-16) and the 2016 6^th Region Co-Player of the Year. Foster was also the varsity placekicker for the Bullitt East football team and converted 17 PATs in her career.
 
At the club level, Foster was a three-time state champion with Javanon FC out of Louisville.
 
"Christian comes from the Javanon Soccer Club, which has been the best team in Kentucky for the past couple years," Flohre said. "She is an attack minded, versatile player who has experience playing in multiple positions. Christian's ability to play anywhere we need her to will help deepen our roster and help her get on the field quickly. She is a proven goal scorer and is in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association record book for goals in a season and in a career. We're happy to have her add to our returning attacking core!"   
 
Claire Hicks
 
Hicks is a midfielder/forward out of Thomas Nelson High School in Boston, Kentucky. She was a four-year starter and three-year team captain for the Generals and concluded her illustrious career with 68 goals and 51 assists. Hicks was named all-district all four years of high school and earned first team All-5^th Region honors her junior and senior seasons.
 
Hicks was a club teammate of Christian Foster at Javanon FC, where she won three state titles from 2014-16.
 
"Claire is another Javanon Soccer Club product out of Louisville," Flohre said. "She is a quick and very technical player who combines well and moves the ball quickly. She will fit in very well with our style of play. Claire's versatility to play multiple positions throughout midfield will benefit us and deepen our returning group of midfielders. She comes from an EKU family and will represent the Colonels very well!"
 
Alyssa Julien
 
Julien is a midfielder out of Mississauga, Ontario, where she attended Philip Pocock Catholic Secondary School. She played for the U-18 Jamaican National Team at the 2016 CONCACAF Championship in Grenada. Julien also played club soccer for Toronto Blizzard.
 
"Alyssa comes to us from the Canadian club, Toronto Blizzards," Flohre said. "She has gained extremely valuable experience playing with the Jamaican Youth National Team and against U.S. university teams with the Toronto Blizzards. I don't expect her to struggle with the transition to collegiate soccer because of this. She's a very athletic midfield player, who is calm and composed. Alyssa is able to set play in the attack just as easily as she's able to disrupt the oppositions' play when defending. We're excited to have her join EKU Soccer!"
 
Sarah Owusu
 
Owusu is a defender/forward out of Brampton, Ontario, where she attended St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary Catholic School. Owusu played club soccer with Brams United from 2004-15 before becoming a teammate of Alyssa Julien at Toronto Blizzard from 2015-17.
 
"Sarah also comes to Richmond from the Toronto Blizzards," Flohre said. "What drew us to her was her athleticism, confidence attacking defenders and stopping attackers and her performances playing against current U.S. collegiate players. She's never looked out of place even though she's still wrapping up high school. Sarah will be a great threat for us, no matter where we play her. She's going to be hard for our opposition to keep control of."
 
Jess Philpot
 
Philpot is a defender from Auckland, New Zealand, where she was a three-year captain for the Epsom Girls Grammar School soccer team. Philpot was selected to the New Zealand Secondary Schools U-19 Girls Football Team, and toured Thailand with the team to play international games against university teams from Thailand and China. She also represented the Auckland Football Federation in the 2016 Women's National League.
 
At the club level, Philpot played for Three Kings United, with whom she went undefeated in 2016 and won the Northern Regional Football League.
 
"Jess is an extremely intelligent, composed and solid central defender," Flohre said. "She is used to playing very similarly to our style of play in New Zealand and will fit in very quickly with what we are developing within EKU Soccer. Not only is she a very good player, she's also going to be a great teammate and will gain the respect of the returning players through her work ethic and competitiveness. Jess will help give us more depth to our already solid backline."
 
Katie Shaffer
 
Shaffer is a defender out of Monroe High School in Monroe, Ohio. Shaffer was named first team all-state as a senior and second team all-state as a junior. She also earned Southwestern Buckeye League (SWBL) Player of the Year honors as a junior and a senior, and NSCAA All-Central Region honors as a senior.
 
Shaffer played club soccer for Ohio Elite ECNL.
 
"Katie comes from the Ohio Elite Soccer Academy, the same club current Colonels Emmi Carroll, Kayla Childs, Tara Claus, Anna Hall and Allison Werner grew up playing for," Flohre said. "She's been competing against some of the best youth teams in the U.S. for years and will transition to collegiate soccer very easily. She's fast, quick, strong and tackles harder than the majority of players I've seen. I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of one of her challenges. Colonel fans are going to love watching her play!"
 
Kylie Thompson
 
Thompson is a forward from Danville, Kentucky, who just wrapped up a storied career at Boyle County High School. She scored 95 goals and recorded 44 assists during her four-year career for the Rebels. Thompson was voted first team all-state as a senior, second team all-state as a junior and honorable mention all-state as a sophomore. She was also first team academic all-state – in both soccer and track – all four years of high school.
 
She played club soccer for both Lexington FC and Bluegrass Soccer Club, and she played for the Kentucky State ODP team in 2012.
 
"Kylie comes to us from Lexington FC, one of the best teams in Kentucky," Flohre said. "She's an extremely athletic and crafty forward. Kylie does things defenders don't expect, both with and without the ball. She's just as good attacking goal as she is making the final pass. Our current forwards and mids are going to enjoy playing with her and she's going to be very tough for any backline to defend!"
 
Taylor Tolle
 
Tolle is a forward from Cold Spring, Kentucky. She will graduate from Newport Central Catholic High School as the school's all-time leading goal scorer (93 career goals). She also broke the school's single-season goals record as a senior (34 goals). She was named first team all-state and the Northern Kentucky Athletic Conference (NKAC) Division II Player of the Year as a junior and a senior.
 
Tolle played club soccer for Kings-Hammer Academy and she was a member of Kentucky's State ODP team from 2014-15.
 
"Taylor has grown up playing for the Kings-Hammer Academy out of Cincinnati and has gained great experience playing against top level competition from across the U.S.," Flohre said. "She's a hard-working, attacking player who helps put teammates in better situations around goal. Taylor has a lot of potential and is going to keep getting better and better. Our team will be happy to have her playing with us!"
 
2017 Signing Class Capsules
 
Billie Clark
Goalkeeper
Lawrenceburg, Kentucky
Anderson County High School
Club Team: Bluegrass Soccer Club
 
Christian Foster
Forward/Midfielder
Mt. Washington, Kentucky
Bullitt East High School
Club Team: Javanon FC
 
Claire Hicks
Forward/Midfielder
Boston, Kentucky
Thomas Nelson High School
Club Team: Javanon FC
 
Alyssa Julien
Midfielder
Mississauga, Ontario
Philip Pocock C.S.S.
Club Team: Toronto Blizzard
 
Sarah Owusu
Defender/Forward
Brampton, Ontario
St. Thomas Aquinas C.S.S.
Club Team: Toronto Blizzard
 
Jess Philpot
Defender
Auckland, New Zealand
Epsom Girls Grammar School
Club Team: Three Kings United
 
Katie Shaffer
Defender
Monroe, Ohio
Monroe High School
Club Team: Ohio Elite
 
Kylie Thompson
Forward
Danville, Kentucky
Boyle County High School
Club Team: Lexington FC
 
Taylor Tolle
Forward
Cold Spring, Kentucky
Newport Central Catholic High School
Club Team: Kings-Hammer Academy