ORONO, Maine – The University of Maine soccer team and head coach Scott Atherley announced five additions to the 2024 roster on Thursday.
 
The five members of the Class of 2028 joins with a trio of transfers announced in January to complete an eight-member recruiting class ahead of the 2024 season.

"Adding eight quality players to a talented veteran group should make us a deeper team in 2024," said Atherley.  "The new players will push the returning ones, which should make training fun and exciting.  In addition to improving our talent pool, we wanted to deter complacency.  Our hope is that the addition of our new group makes everyone a little uncomfortable in a positive and impactful way."

First-year student-athletes Aja Turner, Emma Nicholson, Olivia Grisdale, Olivia Scott and Grace Wilson combine with transfers Amanda Clauzel, Anna Phillips and Jordan Wolf to make up the eight new Black Bears.
  Forward | 5-6
Calgary, Alberta
Whitecaps REX
Played her club soccer for the Whitecaps REX under Katelyn Collar for the past two seasons … trained at the National Development Center under Lee Tucker … played for the Calgary Foothills club prior to joining the national development center … also played three seasons of high school soccer … father, Greg, ran track at Washington State and competed for Team Canada in track and bobsled.
 
Coach Atherley on Aja: "Aja is a skilled technician and someone who possesses exceptional speed. She is versatile and can assume a number of roles as a wide player. Aja is particularly dangerous in 1-v-1 situations."
 
  Defender | 5-7
Bolton, England
Oregon (NCAA)
Phillips comes to Orono after spending the last three seasons as a starter for the Ducks and captaining the squad as a junior ... led Oregon in minutes played each of the last two seasons and started 55 consecutive games ... has extensive international experience with England's junior national teams ... played for England in the 2019 U17 European Qualifier in Bosnia, at the 2019 UEFA Development Tournament and at U16 Nordic Cup in Sweden.
 
Coach Atherley on Anna: "Anna brings terrific experience, leadership and talent to our team. Her playing background speaks for itself. In possession, Anna possesses exceptional poise and vision. Out of possession, she is dominant in the air and is a natural on-field leader. Anna is arguably one of the top transfers coming out of the portal for 2023-2024."


#15 | Emma Nicholson
Midfielder | 5-8
Calgary, Alberta
Calgary Foothills WFC
Played club soccer for Lee Tucker and the Calgary Foothills in the United Women's Soccer League (2022-24) and League1 Alberta (2023-24) … is an Alberta Provincial Champion (2022), Canada National Champion (2019) and earned second place at the Gothia World Youth Cup (2019) … selected for the 2024 National Development Center High Performance Program and the 2023 Canada Soccer National Development Center Competition … represented Team Alberta at the Canada Summer Games in 2022 … member of Canada Soccer's REX program throughout youth soccer career … also played for Joane Cardinal Schubert High School … team captain, MVP and City All-Star … earned Division 1 City Championship … academic honor roll student.
 
Coach Atherley on Emma: "Emma is a goal scoring threat. She can play anywhere across the front line as well the #10 position. She is athletic, technical and instinctive around the goal."
 

#16 | Olivia Grisdale
Defender | 5-8
Calgary, Alberta
Calgary Foothills WFC
Played club soccer for the Calgary Foothills in the United Women's Soccer League (2022-24) and League1 Alberta under Lee Tucker and Greg De Carnys … in 2022, won an Alberta Youth Soccer League title … also played high school soccer for All Saints High School (2022-24) … earned MVP honors in 2023-24 … honor roll student … older sister, Rebecca, is a member of the Maine soccer team.
 
Coach Atherley on Olivia: "Liv is a smooth player. She is very comfortable on the ball and she possesses great field and spatial awareness. Her passing range is extensive and she is versatile."
 

#19 | Amanda Clauzel
Defender | 5-4
Langely, British Columbia
Memphis (NCAA)
Clauzel spent her freshman season at the University of Memphis ... prior to joining the Tigers in the spring of 2023, played her club soccer for the Whitecaps FC Girls Elite REX Program and Surrey United SC ... helped her team to a 12-1 overall record in 2021-22 and won the Canadian National Championship ... also represented British Columbia during the 2022 Canadian Games and she was selected to Team British Columbia for the 2022 Canadian Games held in Niagara ... additionally, Clauzel was part of the team that were named Provincial British Columbia Champions in 2016, 2017 and 2022.

Coach Atherley on Amanda: "Amanda arrives with an impressive playing background as a member of the Whitecaps REX residency program and University of Memphis. She is a quality technician, hard-worker and her game intelligence is exceptionally high. Amanda is a model student-athlete and her addition to our team immediately strengthens our back line."
 

#22 | Jordan Wolf
Goalkeeper | 5-7
Falmouth, Maine
Stony Brook (NCAA)
Wolf joins the Black Bears after spending two seasons season at Stony Brook ... the Maine native was a four-year letterwinner and two-year captain at Falmouth High School, where she is the career record holder with 25 shutouts ... was two-time Maine State All-Region Southern A-Team (2018, 2021), two-time SMAA First Team (2018, 2021), 2021 SMAA Defensive Player of the Year, 2021 Class A South Team, 2020 Class A Regional All-Star Team, 2019 SMAA Honorable Mention and 2018 SMAA Co-Defensive Player of the Year. 

Coach Atherley on Jordan: "We are happy to welcome Jordan back home to Maine. We were well aware of her talents coming out of high school and over the past two seasons at Stony Brook, she has gained valuable collegiate experience. Jordan has a great skill set and is someone who has terrific potential."


#23 | Olivia Scott
Midfielder | 5-6
Orono, Maine
Seacoast United
Played club soccer for Seacoast United for the last five seasons for Coach Atherley … also played four years of soccer for Bangor High School, captaining the squad as a senior ... helped the Rams to a Class A Northern Regional championship and a berth in the state title game in 2023 ... named to the 2023 All-State Second Team and to the KVC All-Star Team ... honors student.
 
Coach Atherley on Olivia: "Olivia is a skillful midfielder and someone who is extremely driven.  She is strong physically and she uses her strength to effectively win tackles and second balls."
 
 
#30 | Grace Wilson
Goalkeeper | 5-11
Adelaide, Australia
Australia U-20
Member of the Australia Women's National Under-20 national team … named to the Young Matilda's (U-20) squad for the first and second round of the Asian Cup qualifiers as well as the 2024 Asian Cup … won bronze at the 2024 Asian Cup to qualify for the 2024 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup … made Junior Matilda's (U-17) debut in 2022: was called in to multiple camps before winning an AFF U-18 Championship, earning a start and shutout against Vietnam in the final … played their club soccer for Adelaide United FC from 2021-24, signing at the age of 16 and making debut in 2024 … also played for the U-14, U-16 and U-18 South Australia State teams.
 
Coach Atherley on Grace: "Grace is an exceptional talent having played at a very high level from an early age. They are athletic, technical and brave. Grace's compete level matches their desire to be an elite goalkeeper.  Grace's addition preserves our tradition of attracting high caliber keepers to our program."