The Sun (Lowell)

Soccer star ahern headed to utah

Chelmsford native signs letter of intent with Utes

- By christophe­r Hurley churley@lowellsun.com

There’s no dispute, Brooke Ahern is going to play for the Utes.

The Chelmsford native and Lawrence Academy girls soccer star recently signed her letter of intent to play for the University of Utah. The two-time Lawrence Academy Team MVP is excited about the future.

“Signing with Utah has been a really amazing experience,” said Ahern. “I can’t wait to be able to play within the Pac-12 against some of the highest competitio­n in the world for college soccer.”

The recruiting process went a little slower than expected for Ahern, who originally committed to another school before the coach she interviewe­d with left. She then shifted her attention to the Beehive State, making the trip out west to visit the campus.

“I was able to get to explore that experience and see the school,” said Ahern. “I met the coach, met some of the girls and saw the surroundin­g area. I just immediatel­y fell in love with it.”

The high school Allamerica­n drew several attractive offers from topnotch institutio­ns, including Arizona, Oregon State, Vanderbilt and Boston College. But in the end, Utah Coach Hideki Nakada and his squad made the sharpshoot­ing striker an offer she simply couldn’t refuse.

“Coach (Nakada) has recruited some great players and he has some transfers from other Pac-12 schools coming in as well,” said Ahern. “I know we’re going to be a very high-intensity team. I think we’ll figure out a bit more of the logistics when we get there, but that’s what I know so far.”

The opportunit­y to play in the Conference of Champions was also too good to pass up.

“You can’t get any better than the Pac-12,” said Ahern, whose team will face off against rivals UCLA, Stanford and USC, among others. “There’s something about the atmosphere of Utah that really attracted me. It’s really a cool place to be. On top of that, I think the team that’s coming in is going to be great.

 ?? COURTESY BROOKE AHERN ?? Chelmsford's brooke ahern has committed to play soccer collegiate­ly for Utah.
COURTESY BROOKE AHERN Chelmsford's brooke ahern has committed to play soccer collegiate­ly for Utah.
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