KINGSTON, Ont. (August 2, 2017) - Queen's women's soccer head coach Dave McDowell is pleased to announce the signing and commitment of 11 players to the soccer program for 2017.

Joining Queen's for the upcoming season are striker Christie Gray (Vancouver), midfielders Alexandra Doane (Brookside, N.S.), Jamie Foot (North Vancouver, B.C.), Taylor Green (Halifax) and Sarah Whelan (St. Andrews West, Ont.), defenders Kaitlyn Howitt (Oakville, Ont.), Kelsie McGinn (Fredericton), Emily Thomas (Vancouver), Talya Wollner (Vancouver), Alexa Jesse (London, Ont.) and goalkeeper Anna Stephenson (Vancouver).

"We've been very fortunate to feature many talented recruiting classes through the years. This year's incoming class is an unusually large, talented class, featuring 11 athletes from across the country," said McDowell of the group. "Not only is this group big on quantity, but it is also very high on quality and may be the deepest class we've ever brought in. They join an experienced and focused returning team that has been working hard to build on last years success and expect many of them to make immediate contributions this fall. We very much look forward to having them join us and begin preparations for what promises to be a very competitive fall season."

The class stretches coast-to-coast for the Gaels with four provinces represented. From Ontario, Howitt is a CISAA champion for the past two years along with being high school team captain. Whelan was the high school athlete of the year in 2015 and plays her club soccer for Ottawa Fury FC.

Queen's sees five recruits coming from B.C. with Stephenson and Wollner both coming from Kitsilano SS with the former being a member of the B.C. provincial team since 2012 and the latter a Maccabiah Games bronze medalist for Canada.  Foot has also been a B.C. provincial team member since 2012, and both of her grandparents attended Queen's. Gray also joins the family lineage at Queen's following in the footsteps of her grandpa, mother, aunt and uncle along with two cousins who currently attend. Thomas applied her talents at West Vancouver SS and for Mountain United FC.

Coming from New Brunswick, McGinn played her club soccer with the FDSA where she was MVP in 2016 and was also a provincial champion. 

Rounding out the class are a pair of Nova Scotia talents. Doane comes to Queen's from Brookside where she captained not only the soccer team but also basketball and cross country while her club team were provincial champions in 2016. Green hails from Halifax and is a 2015 provincial gold medalist. 

Both Doane and Green are competing with Nova Scotia at the Canada Games and defeated B.C. in the quarterfinals which features Stephenson and Foot. McGinn has also been competing for New Brunswick at the Games.

The Gaels 2017 schedule has them opening up their OUA season at home on September 2 at 12 p.m. against the Laurentian Voyageurs at Richardson Stadium. To see the full Gaels schedule click here.

ALEXANDRA DOANE | MIDFIELDER


JAMIE FOOT | MIDFIELDER


CHRISTIE GRAY | STRIKER


TAYLOR GREEN | MIDFIELDER


KAITLYN HOWITT | DEFENDER


KELSIE MCGINN | DEFENDER


ANNA STEPHENSON | GOALKEEPER


EMILY THOMAS | DEFENDER


SARAH WHELAN | MIDFIELDER


TALYA WOLLNER | DEFENDER


2017-18 WOMEN'S SOCCER RECRUITS TO DATE:

Last	First	Hometown	Prov.	Position	Height	Program (Expected)	High School
Doane	Alexandra	Brookside	N.S.	MF	5'9	Science	Halifax West HS
Foot	Jamie	North Vancouver	B.C.	MF	5'4	Kinesiology	Handsworth SS
Gray	Christie	Vancouver	B.C.	S	5'7	Commerce	Crofton House School
Green	Taylor	Halifax	N.S.	MF	5'5	Nursing	Halifax West School
Howitt	Kaitlyn	Oakville	Ont.	D	5'10	Commerce	Appleby College
Jesse	Alexa	London	Ont.	D	5'8	Commerce	AB Lucas SS
McGinn	Kelsie	Fredericton	N.B.	D	5'8	Science	Bernice MacNaughton HS
Stephenson	Anna	Vancouver	B.C.	GK	5'8	Kinesiology	Kitsilano SS
Thomas	Emily	Vancouver	B.C.	D	5'9	Arts	West Vancouver SS
Whelan	Sarah	St. Andrews West	Ont.	MF	5'3	Kinesiology	St. Joseph's CSS
Wollner	Talya	Vancouver	B.C.	D	5'6	Arts	Kitsilano SS