Iowa State Signs Seven In 2021 Soccer Class

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State soccer program and head coach Matt Fannon announced the Cyclones' completed 2021 signing class, set to join the team this fall. Chloe Broughton, Magdalena Keck, Anna Lindgren, Lauren McConnell, Tyra Shand, Morina Suter-Doerig and Clara Thimstrand are the new Cyclones, and are set to arrive on campus for the 2021 season.

The talented class assembled by Fannon and his staff come from across the globe, including signees from Canada, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. It is the first time in program history that Iowa State has signed multiple international players in the same class.

"We've got a group of people where we really feel like every single one of them is going to play a part immediately," Fannon said. "I think they're going to come in and hit the ground running. We have five of the seven that have represented their national team at an incredibly high level, including qualification for the World Cup and the European Championships. When we think about how they can affect us moving forward, their experience is going to make a massive difference right away."

Fannon noted that not being able to recruit in-person over the past year has made the process with this 2021 class a unique experience. It became more important than ever to identify players that will fit well into the Cyclone program.

"We've been able to get to know them through FaceTime," Fannon said. "The most important thing we do any time we recruit is look at who the people are. Regardless of how good they are at soccer, are they someone that is going to make our culture better and make our team chemistry better? Everyone that's coming in for us is absolutely going to do that. We feel really confident about that."

Here's a look at Iowa State soccer's incoming additions:

Chloe Broughton
Hometown: Rossendale, United Kingdom
Height: 5-8
High School: Alder Grange High School
Club Team: Manchester United Under 21s
Broughton will bring a wealth of high-level experience with her to Ames. She has with and against against elite competition, having been with Manchester United for five years, most recently with their U21 program (2019-21). Broughton was part of the club's U16 National Championship squads in 2018 and 2019, and was also named the Manchester United Player of the Year in 2019. Broughton also played with the England Women's U19 squad in 2019.

Broughton on why she chose Iowa State: "Having spoken to lots of Universities, I was really impressed by Coach Fannon and his team. I liked his enthusiasm, ethics and vision for the team and wanted to be part of this. After researching the University, I fell in love with the location, courses and what everyone was saying about it."

Fannon on Chloe Broughton: "What's really cool about Chloe is that she comes from a very similar background to me. I was able to talk with her about some of the more specific details of what I bring. She's a center back from the north of England, I was a center back from the north of England. I really connected with her from that perspective and explaining, 'this is how I want you to play. I really believe I can help you with the way that you play to get the most out of you.' She obviously bought into that and we're really excited about her bringing a standard and a thought process and a toughness from that part of the world that's really common."

Magdalena Keck
Hometown: Hoechst, Austria
Height: 5-3
High School: BG Lustenau
Club Team: FC Dornbirn
Magdalena Keck is an exciting center forward prospect that signed with Iowa State out of Hoechst, Austria. Keck played her club soccer with FC Dornbirn, helping her team to a second place finish at the Coca Cola Club in 2018 and a VFV Club championship in 2019. With a knack for finding the back of the net, Keck scored an astounding 51 goals during the 2018-19 campaign.

Keck on why she chose Iowa State: "I chose Iowa State because it has lots of choices of majors and specializations. Due to the size, it also has a large and diverse student body. Moreover, everyone I ever talked to was really friendly and helpful and it made me feel welcome."

Fannon on Magdalena Keck: "Magda is someone that makes us really excited. Really quick, with a real eye for goal. So desperate to get after people, take people on and score goals. She's done a brilliant job for the Austrian national team and I think she's someone that's a proper soccer junkie. She just wants to get on the field and play and she wants to get after people. We all feel really excited about the way that she's going to impact what we do."

Anna Lindgren
Hometown: Karlstad, Sweden
Height: 5-8
High School: Tingvallagymnasiet
Club Team: BIK Karlshoga
Anna Lindgren is one of three players from Sweden in Iowa State's 2021 class. Following an outstanding prep career playing with her club, BIK Karlshoga, Lindgren with join the Cyclones this fall. She possesses the speed and an attacking mindset that has Fannon and his staff excited to see her in the Cardinal & Gold.

Lindgren on why she chose Iowa State: "Iowa State feels like a professional school where you develop academically, and as an athlete, but also as a person."

Fannon on Anna Lindgren: "I feel like we have an incredibly high level of player overall, but the way Anna is going to fit in is that she has great pace, she's pretty direct in her thought process and she really wants to get forward and score goals. She's the kind of person that when she comes in, she's going to hit the ground running. She's a little bit of a soccer junkie that wants to get after it."

Lauren McConnell
Hometown: Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Height: 5-5
High School: Eastview Secondary School
Club Team: Barrie Soccer Club
Lauren McConnell, hailing from Barrie, Ontario, is Iowa State's first Canadian signee since 2003 (Arlene Samuel). McConnell has enjoyed an outstanding prep career playing for Barrie Soccer Club, winning a 2017 Ontario Cup championship, as well as Robbie International Tournament titles in 2017 and 2018. In 2019, McConnell scored 18 goals to rank No. 2 on the team, and was a Gatorade 5v5 Canadian National Championship semifinalist the same year. She was also a standout cross country and badminton athlete for Eastview Secondary School.

McConnell on why she chose Iowa State: "I chose Iowa State because of its strong academics, beautiful campus and exciting team culture. I was able to create a strong relationship with the coaching staff where I know I will be challenged to be the best I can be. Iowa State also feels like home and offers Kinesiology – my preferred course of study."

Fannon on McConnell: "I've gotten to know Lauren and her family really well and she's wonderful. She's someone that brings a totally different dimension of the game. She wants to take people on. She wants to try tricks and be really creative and that's in her mindset. She's also someone that has a lot of athleticism and is really tough so we can play her both sides of the ball. I think that's really going to be beneficial for us and help her make an immediate impact."

Tyra Shand
Hometown: Stockholm, Sweden
Height: 5-4
High School: Fjallenskolan
Club Team: Djurgardens IF and Boo FF
Tyra Shand signed with Iowa State out of Stockholm, Sweden, following an outstanding prep career. Shand's versatility and athleticism stand out, and will allow the Cyclone staff to deploy her in a number of ways as they find her best fit on the pitch. During her club career in Sweden, Shand was on teams that finished runner-up (2016) and in third place (2019) in the Swedish Championship, and also took third at the 2016 Gothia Cup.

Shand on why she chose Iowa State: "I chose Iowa State because of the amazing coaching staff and team. I think that their program will be a perfect fit for me."

Fannon on Shand: "She's someone that I think is big and strong and fast and is able to do all those things, but has the tactical understanding as well. She's someone that right now we're not quite sure where she's going to play, because she has so many different qualities to fit her in different spots that I think when she gets here and we figure that out immediately she's going to be a big piece of what we're doing moving forward."

Morina Suter-Doerig
Hometown: Berne, Switzerland
Heigh: 5-5
High School: Gymnasium Neufeld
Club Team: BSC Young Boys; Bern
Suter-Doerig will join the Cyclones with a tremendous amount of high-level soccer under her belt. She comes to Ames with years of experience on the youth teams of the Swiss National Team from U16 to U19, and attended Swiss Olympic partner schools for seven years. She was on U19 Swiss Championship teams in 2018 and 2019, as well as the FIFA Youth Cup runner-up squad in 2019.

Suter-Doerig on why she chose Iowa State: "They offer an ambitious soccer program where I will be able to develop myself on and off the pitch. Moreover, I can combine my passion of soccer with a good academic education."

Fannon on Suter-Doerig: "Morina is probably the quietest of the group, but she's got this incredible, underlying confidence with that quiet demeanor. So hard-working. She's a box-to-box midfielder that we know can get forward, that we know can create chances. There's not a lot about Morina's game that isn't going to immediately fit in here. We're really excited about her as someone that can come in as an international freshman and get herself on the field right away and make a difference."

Clara Thimstrand
Hometown: Sundsvall, Sweden
Height: 5-7
High School: Klara Teoretiska
Club Team: Sundsvalls DFF
Clara Thimstrand is yet another 2021 signee that hails from Sweden, and looks to be a very promising center back for the Cyclones. Thimstrand played every game in 2020 while helping her club team, Sundsvalls DFF, to a Division I title. A very versatile athlete, Thimstrand has experienced playing nearly every position on the pitch.

Thimstrand on why she chose Iowa State: "I was impressed by the University, the soccer team and the welcoming coaches and people I've been in contact with."

Fannon on Thimstrand: "What I love about Clara is that she is really athletic, but she's a soccer player. I went through so many conversations with Clara talking about how we're not interested in the center backs that just want to kick the ball forward, we're interested in center backs that want to play the game – and she can play. She also has the athleticism behind that to be able to be tough, to be able to win every ball she needs to. On top of that, she's just a wonderful young woman. I think we're really excited about getting her in. I think she's going to be a standout player as a freshman."

Iowa State University Athletics

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