Eckman to become a Buckeye
FREEPORT— Her final stop turned into her future home.
Freeport graduate Kayla Eckman, the 2008 Butler Eagle Girls Soccer Player of the Year, has signed to play at Ohio State University.
Eckman visited Penn State, West Virginia, Duke and North Carolina, and considered Connecticut, before visiting Ohio State.
"I fell in love with everything about it,"she said of OSU. "This was shaping up to be a very tough decision before I visited that campus.
"They have great athletic teams and facilities, and my future teammates are incredible. All of my other campus visits ... I didn't get the feeling I got when I went to Ohio State."
Eckman graduated from Freeport in January and is the girls soccer program's all-time leading scorer with 135 goals.
The Buckeyes finished 8-10-2 overall, 5-5-0 in conference play, last fall and qualified for the Big Ten Tournament for the 13th time. OSUplayed in the Big Ten championship game and qualified for the NCAAtournament in 2007.
Coach Lori Walker will be entering her 13th year at Ohio State and has a career record of 127-102-20. OSUhas graduated two 35-goal scorers and one 27-goal scorer over the past three years.
Eckman is one of four forwards signing with the Buckeyes this offseason.
"We've only signed three forwards in the past two years,"Walker said in a prepared statement,"so we are pleased to be adding four forwards to the roster."
At Walker's request, Eckman is enrolling at Ohio State in March and will get two months of work in with the soccer team before fall camp begins.
"That's going to be a big help to me,"Eckman said. "It's going to give me a head start in assimilating with the team and getting accustomed to their style of play."
"Kayla is a hard-working forward whose strengths include her work rate, playing with her back to the goal, combining and finishing,"Walker said. "We are excited she will be coming in early this spring. It will only help her adjustment and impact next fall."
As for the level of play, Eckman isn't too concerned about making the jump from WPIALClass AAsoccer to the major college game.
She was captain of her Beadling club team for four years and helped the team reach the state cup championship and regional semifinals twice.
Eckman also scored the only goal for the U.S. under-16 team in a 1-0 win over Germany in January 2007.
"That was a really cool experience,"she said. "The talent level was so high. Going to the Big Ten is a big jump for me, but playing for that elite team gave me an idea of what to expect."
Eckman's immediate goal is to get on the field for the Buckeyes as a freshman, if not start.
"I hope to be a top scorer for the team,"she said. "But I realize I have to develop into that role."
Eckman was an all-section player for four years and an all-WPIALperformer for three years at Freeport. She scored 31 goals and 26 assists her senior season.
