Utah State Soccer Signs Seven

Feb. 12, 2008 

Utah State head soccer coach Heather Cairns announced that five players have signed letters of intent and two have signed acceptance of admissions letters to play for the Aggies in 2008.

 

“I am thrilled to add such a diverse and talented freshman class,” Cairns said. “They have achieved much success at the club, Olympic development and high school levels, and that experience has prepared them well for the demands of college soccer.”

 

Forwards Shantel Flanary from Highland, Utah (Lone Peak HS), Brittney Boyack from Las Vegas, Nev. (Spring Valley HS), midfielder Chandra Salmon of Provo, Utah (Provo HS), defender Summer Tillotson from Sandy, Utah (Alta HS), and goalkeeper Molli Merrill of Bountiful, Utah (Bountiful HS) have all signed national letters of intent.

 

Defenders Alexis Venable from Layton, Utah (Northridge HS) and Megan Rhoads of Sandy, Utah (Brighton HS) have signed acceptance of admissions letters.

 

“We add strength to every position and the competitiveness that they will bring out in our team will help us achieve our goal of winning a WAC tournament championship,” Cairns said.

 

Flanary, Tillotson and Rhoads are club soccer teammates, currently playing for the Utah Avalanche club team. The trio were 2007 state cup champs, as well as 2007 Far West Regional semi-finalists. Tillotson and Rhoads helped the club to a state championship in 2006, while Rhoads was also a member of the 2004 state cup championship team.

 

Flanary earned first-team all-region honors all four years, all-valley selection three years and first-team all-state accolades two years. She scored 87 career goals en route to leading Lone Peak High School to a 39-1 record, three 5A state finals and three-straight region four championships. She was also a member of the 89's state Olympic development team.

 

“Shantel will bring a lot of speed and a willingness to dribble at defenders to our front line as well as being a great goal scorer. She’s super competitive and has the fight that is needed to score goals at the college level,” Cairns said.

 

Tillotson helped Alta High School to two consecutive Utah 5A state titles her junior and senior campaigns. Alta finished the year ranked second in the nation in 2006. Tillotson earned second-team all-state honors after her senior year and was an all-state honorable mention selection her junior year.

 

“Summer brings size as well as a lot of speed and athleticism to our back line,” Cairns said. “Her speed will match any attacker that she is up against and she is very strong in the air. She is well prepared to play at the college level because she is used to defending some of the best attackers in the state from her club and high school experiences.”

 

Rhoads was a four-year letterwinner and helped Brighton High School win the 2005 Utah 5A state championship. She is also a member of the 90's state Olympic development team.

 

“Megan is a smart individual defender,” Cairns said. “She also understands a flat-back four system and will add confidence, organization and competitiveness to our back line.”

 

As a senior, Salmon was an all-state honorable mention selection and earned second-team all-region and all-valley honors after tallying 13 goals and 16 assists. As a junior, Salmon was her region's top scorer with 22 goals and 16 assists. She was selected to the all-state, all-Utah and all-region first-teams. She is a four-year member of the 90’s state Olympic development team, played on the Region IV regional team and was a four-year member of the Celtic Storm club team. Salmon was a three-year captain for the Celtic Storm and helped her team to the 2006 Utah State Cup finals.

 

“One of Chandra’s strengths is her versatility. She is able to play anywhere on the field but we expect her to come in and initially play in the midfield,” Cairns said. “She is a great two-way player who is equally comfortable in a defending role or attacking role. In addition, her leadership ability is exceptional and will help fill the void left by former Aggie Shannon Ross.”

 

A four-year letterwinner, Boyack holds the Spring Valley High School record for mosts goals and most assists as she led her team in goals and assists all four years and led her conference her sophomore and junior seasons. She garnered all-conference and all-region honors three years in a row and was a member of the 2006 Las Vegas Southwest Conference champs. Boyack was formerly a member for Las Vegas Tabagators in the Women’s Premier Soccer League in 2006. She is currently a member of the Las Vegas Dosveedanya club where she has led the team in scoring for eight years.

 

“Brittney is another very good goal scorer and will fill the role of a target forward,” Cairns said. “She is strong and is able to hold off defenders. She’s comfortable with the ball at her feet and is able to dribble and take on defenders. She has the mentality to shoot first which will create a lot of scoring chances at the college level.”

 

Merrill was a four-year letterwinner and set the school record for career shutouts (35) for Bountiful High School en route to earning two region championships, appearing in two state championship finals and winning the state championship in 2006. She was named the 2006 Davis County Clipper MVP and received Salt Lake Tribune Class 4A first-team all-state honors three years. She also garnered Deseret News Utah Class 4A accolades earning second-team honors as a freshman and sophomore and was named to the first-team after her junior and senior seasons. Merrill also played for the Utah Rush Soccer club.

 

“Molli has natural athletic ability and with her size she’s able to cover a lot of space in goal and come up with great saves,” Cairns said. “In addition to that, her distribution is fantastic which will be an asset in starting our attack.”

 

A four-year letterwinner, Venable was an all-region honorable mention selection in 2004 and 2005 as well as earning all-region first-team accolades in 2006. As a senior, Venable earned all-area and all-region first-team honors and was named her team’s outstanding defensive player of the year.

 

“Alexis is a strong competitor and an experienced defender,” Cairns said. “She is speedy and likes to get into the attack. Her strengths will best be used as an outside back.”

 

Utah State returns nine starters and 17 letterwinners from last season’s squad that posted a 10-11-0 record, tying the most-ever wins in the program's 12-year history. Utah State's 5-2-0 conference record ties the previous program-record mark of five league wins set in 2006. This year USU also set records for most points in a season (114), most goals in a season (40) and most assists in a season (34).

 

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