Expectations for the incoming freshmen joining Saint Louis University’s women’s soccer team are high. And they haven’t even graduated from high school yet.
“I’m excited. All the players coming in have a shot at starting,” said coach Tim Champion. “They give us more depth and add a lot of speed to our lineup.”
Jamie Perry, Tressa Pecher, Blair Douglas, Ellen Gerweck and Erin Stay signed to play with SLU in 2001.
Perry attended Rockwood Summit High School in St. Louis. Last season, she scored 29 goals and added 14 assists for 72 points. She set Rockwood Summit’s career scoring record with 75 goals. Perry was selected to the All-Conference first team for three years and was named to the All-Metro team twice. Perry has played on the Olympic Development Program state team since 1991 and has played on the ODP Region II team since 1998.
This season, Perry has already tallied 14 goals and five assists for 33 points. Four of her goals have been game winners. Perry scored three goals and added two assists in Rockwood Summit’s 10-0 victory over University City High School on Monday. Her efforts have helped pace Rockwood Summit’s 5-0 start.
“She’s a striker who has scored nearly 30 goals a year in high school,” Champion said. “She has tremendous speed and the ability to go to the goal and score. She’s highly skilled. She can take defenders one-on-one and beat them.”
Pecher played at Parkway West High School in St. Louis. Last season, Pecher recorded three goals and six assists for 12 points. This year, Parkway West is 3-1-2 and Pecher has not tallied a point.
She has also played for the Busch Soccer Club. Her father, Steve Pecher, played for the St. Louis Steamers and coached the Busch Soccer Club. That team won five state titles and notched a 227-59 record.
“She’s a big, strong sweeper,” Champion said. “She should come in and win one of the spots in the back. She’s good in the air and is a good defender.”
Douglas, who played at Lafayette High School, recorded 11 goals and seven assists for 29 points last year. Last season, Lafayette finished 7-0-0 in the league and 22-2-0 overall. Douglas was also recruited by many Division I institutions to play field hockey.
So far this season, Douglas has four goals and three assists for 11 points. She picked up an assist in a 2-0 win over Lindbergh on Tuesday. The win moved Lafayette to 7-0 on the season.
“She’s probably the fastest kid in St. Louis. She’ll add a new dimension to the team,” Champion said. “She’ll probably play up top. She’s just unbelievably fast.”
Gerweck finished her four-year career at Marian High School in Omaha, Neb. Gerweck was part of three straight Class A state championship teams. She was named the Nebraska female high school player of the year. She was selected All-Nebraska, Class A All-State and All-Metro Conference twice in her career. Her team was ranked 11th in the country and second in the region during her junior year. Gerweck has been on the ODP Region II team since 1998.
“She is a really good defender,” said Champion. “She’s strong and physical and has excellent vision. She’ll fit in well with how we try to move the ball.”
Stay started every game in her four-year career at Shorewood High School in Seattle. She was an All-Conference defender the past three seasons. Shorewood won the 4A state championship her junior year. Shorewood also won conference that year. The team was ranked in the top 25 nationally her senior year.
Stay’s club team, the Diamante Nationals, played in the state championship game the last four years. The Nationals won the title in 1997. Stay was named MVP of the Diadora Cup in 1998. Stay played on the District ODP team the last three seasons.
“She plays a lot like Mandy Trokey,” said Champion. “She has good speed and a great work rate. She’s a strong, physical player. She should challenge for a spot in the back.”
This could be one of the best recruiting classes in the program’s short history.
“This is as good as next year’s junior class,” Champion said. “And that class has five or six starters.”
Champion had a distinct criteria when recruiting the freshmen class.
“We were looking for players who would add speed and skill,” Champion said. “All of them have extremely high work rates and are very driven. They have the mentality that some of our current players have. They work hard and give 100 percent the whole game.”
