BATON ROUGE – After returning to postseason play with an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2015, the LSU Soccer program is already preparing for the 2016 season with the addition of two NCAA Division I transfers and two high school standouts to its roster for the start of the spring semester as they will join the team in spring training.
Former Florida State goalkeeper Caroline Brockmeier and University of Oregon attacker Zoe Higgins join Tennessee prep standout Emma Grace Goldman and Australian youth international Caitlin Cantrill as the newest LSU Tigers as they will soon join the rest of the team for the start of spring practice on Feb. 24.
While National Signing Day is still two weeks away on Wednesday, Feb. 3, they become the first recruits in LSU’s Class of 2016 to officially join the program with their enrollment for the spring semester.
“We are excited to add four quality players, students and people to the program this spring,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “It’s a huge advantage to have them with us early and a great opportunity for them to acclimate to LSU before the fall season. All of the players, coaches and staff are looking forward to getting back to training as a unit and putting in the sweat equity to make the fall of 2016 another positive step forward for the program.”
The Tigers might have more depth at the goalkeeper position than at any other point in their history in 2016 as Brockmeier and Goldman join a team that already returns New Zealand youth international Lily Alfeld next season as they look to replace the services of graduating senior Catalina Rubiano, who started all 21 matches for the Tigers during the 2015 season.
Ranked the No. 1 freshman goalkeeper in all of college soccer by the online goalkeeping publication EverybodySoccer.com, Brockmeier made seven appearances for the Seminoles during the 2015 season in which they defended their Atlantic Coast Conference title and advanced to the NCAA Women’s College Cup for the fifth-straight season. She did not allow a goal in more than 110 minutes of action this past season.
Brockmeier redshirted her true freshman season at Florida State in 2014 when the Seminoles stormed to the national championship with a 1-0 win over Virginia in the National Championship Game.
Brockmeier was a decorated goalkeeper during her prep career at Tallahassee’s Chiles High School where she was the No. 26-ranked recruit in the country regardless of position and the No. 3-ranked goalkeeper in the country for the Class of 2014 by TopDrawerSoccer.com. She was a four-year member of the Florida State Olympic Development Program Team and Region III ODP Team as a youth.
The Tallahassee native has continued her progression as one of the country’s top young goalkeepers after being invited to a U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team Training Camp and National Goalkeeper Camp in her redshirt freshman season at Florida State in 2015. She participated in national camps with the U.S. U-14 and U-15 teams in 2010 and 2011 during her youth career.
Goldman arrived in Baton Rouge following a distinguished career at Oakland High School in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where she was a four-year letterwinner from 2012-15 prior to her enrollment at LSU. Not only was Goldman a three-time all-state selection from 2013-15, but she was also honored as the District 7-3A Goalkeeper of the Year in all three seasons while also being a two-time all-region and all-area performer.
Goldman is no stranger to silverware as she was the defensive leader and catalyst in Oakland High School securing two regional championships in 2013 and 2015, two district tournament championships in 2014 and 2015 and one regular season district championship in her senior season in 2015.
Goldman was also a veteran of the Tennessee ODP Team as a sophomore in 2013 and played club soccer with Tennessee Soccer Club 16 Premier, guiding the team to the Disney Tournament Championship in 2014.
While the Tigers have laid a strong foundation in defense with the addition of two quality goalkeepers at the start of the semester, they have also added to their attacking options in the spring as Higgins joins the team with two seasons of NCAA Division I soccer at Oregon and Cantrill arrives in Baton Rouge as one of the top young talents in her native Australia.
A native of Boring, Oregon, and product of Sandy Union High School, Higgins lettered both seasons at Oregon while playing as a forward and midfielder for the Ducks in 2014 and 2015. She made 21 appearances in both of her seasons in Eugene, including starts against both Seattle University and Washington State en route to a career high 13 appearances during her sophomore season in 2015.
Prior to joining the NCAA ranks, Higgins was a three-year letterwinner at Sandy Union High School where she was a two-time First-Team All-Northwest Champions League performer. Not only did she compete for club side Oregon Rush, but Higgins played with the Oregon State ODP Team for six years, leading the team to the Region IV title in her age group and being a three-time All-Region IV selection.
Cantrill joins the program from Radford College in Canberra, Australia, where she has emerged as one of her country’s top young midfield talents as a member of Australia’s U-20 and U-17 Women’s National Teams for the past four years. She recently featured in Australia’s qualifying campaign for the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup and was her country’s top scorer in a recent Australian Federation Cup tournament.
Cantrill has scored a hat trick with three goals in a match at international level with Australia’s U-17 team, and was also named the Player of the Match in a recent international contest against the Philippines.
Cantrill has also developed her talent while competing as a member of the National Training Center State Team through the ACT Academy of Sport in her native Canberra for three years from 2012-14 and playing with a W-League training squad with Canberra United in 2014 and 2015 prior to signing her National Letter of Intent with the Tigers.