The Butler women's soccer team welcomes seven talented student-athletes to the roster this fall. Gretchen Skoglund, Abigail Isger, Alana Wood, Becky Dean, Maddie Farnsworth, Aliya Diagne and Kathryn Marrs make up a strong recruiting class that will join a group of Bulldog returners that went to the BIG EAST Championship match for the second straight season in 2018.

"This year's incoming class provides us with tremendous balance throughout all units of the team, which was very important to us due to the large and impactful class that just graduated," said co-head coach Rob Alman."It's a group that has accumulated a lot of experience in big games during their club and high school careers, which will serve them well as we seek championships together in the future.We are so excited to have these ladies join our program, our University and our community at large. It's a group of high character young women that will be first class ambassadors of our program and will make the University very proud both on and off the field. We look forward to the Butler community welcoming them and getting to know them over the upcoming weeks, months and years."

Gretchen Skoglund
St. Louis, Missouri / Webster Groves High School
St. Louis Scott Gallagher ECNL
Forward
Skoglund was a four-year starter at Webster Groves High School. She helped her team win the first women's soccer State Championship in school history as well as post an overall record of 59-13-2 through her junior year. Webster Groves has also won two conference championships (2016 and 2017) with Skoglund on the roster.
 
The talented forward received Offensive Player of the Year honors as a sophomore after tallying 23 goals and 14 assists. She is a three-time All-Conference selection, and a two-time All-Region and First Team All-State honoree. As a member of St. Louis ECNL, she helped her team win a conference championship with an 18-4-4 record. Skoglund was also named to the ECNL Midwest All-Conference Team.
 
Abigail Isger
Indianapolis, Indiana / Homeschool
Indiana Fire Juniors
Forward ENCL
The Indianapolis native brings local club experience to the Bulldog's roster. Isger helped lead her team to the USYS National Championships in 2015 and 2016. She received the Golden Boot in the 2016 championships as the top scorer in the tournament. The forward also led her team to the ECNL playoffs in 2017. 
 
Alana Wood
Chesterfield Twp., Michigan / Henry Ford II High School
Nationals Development Academy
Defender
Wood earned two varsity letters at Henry Ford II High School before playing exclusively for her academy team. During her high school career, she earned All-District honors both years and helped her team to a state semi-finals appearance in 2017.
 
As a member of the Nationals Development Academy, Wood was a 2017 U16 National Champion and a 2018 National Championship finalist. Her team was the 2016 and 2017 Michigan State Cup Champions, a 2017 U16 Region 2 Champion, a 2016 U15 Region 2 semi-finalist, and a U15 Michigan State Cup finalist.
 
Wood was also selected to the USYNT U17 training camp in 2018, but had to withdraw due to injury.
 
Becky Dean
Liberty Twp., Ohio / Mount Notre Dame High School
Cincinnati Development Academy
Midfielder
Dean was a four-year starter at Mount Notre Dame where her team registered a 47-17-11 overall record with Dean on the roster. The midfielder helped her team to three league championships (2015, 2016, and 2018). The Cougars made school history in 2018 by winning the District Title, marking the furthest a women's soccer team had advanced in the State Tournament.
 
Dean is a three-time All-Conference selection (2016, 2017, and 2018) and a two-time All-Southwest Ohio honoree (2017 and 2018). The Midfielder was all named the conference Player of the Year and an All-State member after tallying six goals and 11 assists. She was also a team captain and team MVP in 2017 and 2018.
 
As a member of the Cincinnati Development Academy, Dean scored the winning penalty kick to give her club their first ever National Championship Title in 2017. Her team was also a national finalist in 2016, a national semi-finalist in 2015 and 2018, and a National League Champion in 2017.
 
Maddie Farnsworth
Waunakee, Wis. / Waunakee High School
Madison 56ers
Midfielder
As a four-year starter at Waunakee High School, with her senior season yet to play, Farnsworth was a second team All-Conference member as a freshman, and a unanimous first team selection as a sophomore, junior, and senior. The midfielder earned honorable mention All-State honors as a sophomore and junior, before being named first team All-State in her senior campaign.

Farsnworth was also named the Wisconsin State Journal's 2019 All-Area Girls Soccer Player of the year.
 
Aliya Diagne
Neunkirchen, Germany / Deutsch-französisches Saarbrücken
SV Elversberg
Midfielder
Diagne comes to Butler with an international resume.  During her senior campaign in Germany, she was named the 2019 Neunkirchen Athlete of the Year.  In that same year, she was also a Captain of the State select team. Her club team claimed a SV Elversbert State Cup championship and U17 runner-up league finish in 2018.

Additionally, Diagne was selected as part of the German U17 National Team and competed at the 2018 World Cup in Uraguay. 
 
Kathryn Marrs
Cincinnati, Ohio / Indian Hill High School
Cincinnati United Premier 
Goalkeeper
Marrs, a three-year varsity starter at Indian Hill, is coming off an impressive senior campaign. She was best in the league with fewest goals allowed (11) and highest save percentage (.860) during the 2018 season.  She had 14 shutouts as a senior and her 25 career shutouts rank seventh on the Indian Hill all-time list in only two seasons as a goalkeeper. Marrs received first-team All-CHL and represented her team at the 2018 All-Southwest Senior All-Star Game.
 
Indian Hill collected back-to-back Ohio State Championships with Marrs between the posts in 2017 and 2018.  As a senior, Marrs saved the deciding penalty kick in the regional final to send her high school team to their second-straight state semifinals match.
 
During the 2017 season, she was ranked #5 in the nation on the DII Goalkeepers list and was a two-time Player of the Week nomination by the Cincinnati Enquirer.