SOCCER: Lamar lands Sheppard; LSU-Eunice inks Miguez, Short

Published 4:10 pm Wednesday, November 14, 2018

NEDERLAND — Lamar added another local face to its women’s soccer team Wednesday as standout Nederland scorer Meg Sheppard signed a letter of intent to join the Cardinals.

Sheppard had been verbally committed to Lamar since her sophomore year, when coach Steve Holeman took over the program.

“… Once I saw what they did last year and this year, that made me excited to see what I can do to help,” the striker said. The Cards won the Southland Conference tournament last fall.

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Now, she’ll join a roster that boasted three Jefferson County players and one from Lumberton.

“I used to play with some off the girls,” Sheppard said. She’ll join Nederland graduate and 2017 Southland Conference tournament MVP Madison Ledet, as well as Port Neches-Groves alumna Hailey Loupe and Kelly graduate Sophia Manibo, all of whom are sophomores at Lamar. Lumberton’s Macie McFarland is a junior.

Two more Nederland seniors, defender Destyn Miguez and center midfielder Phoebe Short, will begin their college careers at LSU-Eunice, a two-year school.

“I just felt at home, much different from all other places,” said Miguez, who said she was offered by Lamar. “I’m very excited because I’d have been scared and nervous to go to a new team without someone I’ve known.”

That won’t be the case with Short joining her.

“We made up our minds at the same time,” said Short, who drew an offer from Northeast Texas Community College.

The signing ceremony was exciting for Nederland coach Aaron Tomplait, who led the Bulldogs to a share of the District 22-5A championship last spring in his first season at the helm.

“I never had to organize something like this,” he said. “I really just had a year with them. I don’t know what my impact is, but hopefully they picked up something from me for next season. We all have high expectations.”

On Tuesday, Bridge City softball standouts Caitlin Denison, Aleah McClanahan and Abby Anderson signed letters of intent with Galveston College. Bridge City soccer standout Brinley Bell will ink with Jarvis Christian College on Friday.

I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews

About I.C. Murrell

I.C. Murrell was promoted to editor of The News, effective Oct. 14, 2019. He previously served as sports editor since August 2015 and has won or shared eight first-place awards from state newspaper associations and corporations. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, grew up mostly in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and graduated from the University of Arkansas at Monticello.

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