Soccer - W | 4/28/2016 9:41:00 AM
BURNABY, BC – Head Coach
Annie Hamel and the Simon Fraser University women's soccer program bolstered its lineup today with the addition of Oregon State transfer Jenna Baxter.
"We are excited to add someone of Jenna's caliber to our squad," said Hamel. "I know Jenna well and our players are familiar with her as well so it'll be an easy transition integrating her into the squad for all of us."
A native of Surrey, Baxter returns home to BC after spending the 2015 season with the Oregon State University Beavers, a member of Division I's Pac-12 Conference. In her freshman season, the midfielder started nine games and played a total of 978 minutes. She tallied two assists and had 17 shots over her 19 appearances.
Baxter has seen time with the Canadian under-17 team. She made her debut in the Canadian youth program at the age of 16 and helped Canada to a silver medal at the 2013 CONCACAF Women's U17 Championship in Montego Bay. Baxter has made two appearances with the Canadian U17 squad, including an appearance against the USA. Prior to the start of her collegiate career, Baxter also played for the U18 Whitecaps Girls Elite for two years.
"Jenna was a stand-out with the Whitecaps program because she plays with a lot of heart and a lot of confidence," explained Hamel. "She has a big engine, she is a threat on set pieces, she loves being on the ball."
In February, the program signed midfielder Emma Pringle and Carmen Brown, defender Emma Lobo and striker Lauren Fuerderer to the 2016 recruiting class in addition to Kaely Biring, a transfer from the University of Calgary.
Simon Fraser came within one victory of advancing to the 2015 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Championship for the first time ever last season but suffered a heart-breaking 2-1 loss in double overtime to Western Oregon Wolves. SFU finished the season 7-6-2 in Hamel's second season as head coach. It was the Clan's first winning season in five years.
SFU will host the GNAC Championship again in 2016 and with the new players added to the roster, Hamel believes that there is enough experience, depth, size and physicality, as well as goal-scoring ability on her squad to achieve a successful campaign in the fall.
"This offseason, we recruited to fill the needs and voids we identified from our 2015 season. We're in a better position to be competitive for the course of a whole season now than last year," said Hamel.
"Every year, I'm getting a better understanding of how to be successful in our conference and the types of student-athletes we need to build a winning program at SFU." she continued.
The 2016 season begins for the Clan on August 15 with the start of preseason. The team will be playing three exhibition games and four regional non-conference games before kicking off the GNAC portion of the schedule on September 22.
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--@SFUClan--
