SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- The Augustana women's soccer team had a busy National Signing Day on Wednesday morning as seven student-athletes signed their National Letters of Intent to continue their athletic and academic careers at Augustana. The seven athletes will enroll as freshmen in the fall of 2020. Wednesday is the first day of the signing period for all NCAA soccer programs. 

"This is an incredible class for our program and for our institution," head coach Brandon Barkus said. "Our coaches and our players could not be more excited to welcome them to the Augustana Soccer family. It is an extremely talented and diverse group that will significantly impact our program.

"These seven young women are tremendous examples of who we look to recruit at Augie Soccer; great people, fantastic players and courageous leaders with an undying passion to be the best. We are very excited for Augustana Soccer in 2020!"

Meet The Class
 

Annika Bard	Center Midfield	5-5	Appleton, Wis.	United Hurricanes
Grace Douglas	Forward	5-2	Woodbury, Minn.	Salvo SC
Hope Korte	Midfield	5-9	Mendota Heights, Minn.	Salvo SC
Lily Petersen	Midfield	5-4	Sioux Falls, S.D.	Dakota Alliance SC
Sierra Schmidt	Forward/Midfield	5-4	Omaha, Neb.	Gretna Soccer Club
Ellie Schock	Forward	5-6	Sioux Falls, S.D.	Dakota Alliance SC
Mackenzie Ternes	Defender	5-8	Vadnais Heights, Minn.	Salvo SC

Annika Bard | Center Midfield | 5-5 | Appleton, Wis.| United Hurricanes



Barkus on Bard: "Annika is a player we expect to contribute immediately and will add depth in the midfield. She is small in stature, but Annika's soccer IQ more than makes up for that. She is gifted and can truly dictate the flow of a game; her distribution is incredibly accurate and her creativeness is uncanny. I believe her biggest adjustment will be the speed of the college game, but we are confident that she will play to her strengths and give us a great option in the midfield."

High School: Bard will graduate from Appleton West High School in May of 2020. The now-senior scored 23 goals as a junior and was named First Team All-Conference and Honorable Mention All-State. She scored 25 goals as a sophomore and in addition to being named First Team All-Conference was named the Family Insurance All-USA Fox Valley Top Performer. Bard notched 18 goals during her freshman season. 

Personal: Bard was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on Feb. 15, 2002, to parents Jeff and Kris Bard. She has an older sibling and likes to travel, play ping pong and volunteer at the humane society. She plans to major in Communications Disorders at Augustana and wants to become a speech language pathologist. 

Grace Douglas | Forward | 5-2 | Woodbury, Minn | Salvo SC



Barkus on Douglas: "Grace is an exciting addition to our front line! She is super dynamic yet simple and has moments of tremendous combination play that really impact an attack. She is strong on the dribble, can crack a shot from distance and is super consistent with what you see in her every time out. Grace is all business when it comes to soccer, but has such a fun personality and humor to her. We are really excited to add her to our Viking soccer family!"

High School: Douglas will graduate from Woodbury High School in June of 2020. She is a four-year letterwinner and was a starter during her junior and senior seasons. She received All-Conference honors during her junior and senior seasons. 

Personal: Douglas was born in Woodbury, Minnesota, on Sept. 24, 2001, to parents Larry Douglas and Aimee Broten. She has four siblings and her hobbies include soccer, hockey and ultimate frisbee. Douglas plans on majoring in psychology at Augustana. 

Hope Korte | Midfield | 5-9 | Mendota Heights, Minn. | Salvo SC



Barkus on Korte: "Hope adds a new dynamic to our attack that we are excited about. She has a big physical and athletic presence and is very good on the ball and can strike from almost anywhere. Her ability on set pieces is very exciting and she absolutely crushes the ball when she hits it. She has so much focus and is so driven to play at this level. We feel that she can come in and compete immediately and we are excited to see how she mixes in with the rest of the attack. We knew we wanted Hope to be a part of our program from the first time we watched her to her campus visit, she is awesome!"

High School: Korte will graduate from Henry Sibley High School in May of 2020. She scored seven goals and tallied seven assists as a senior and was named First Team All-Conference and Second Team All-State. As a junior, she was named First Team All-Conference as well. She scored 10 goals and tallied 9 assists during her freshman and sophomore seasons and was named Rookie of the Year during her freshman campaign.

Personal: Korte was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Sept. 20, 2001, to parents Julie and John Korte. She has an older sibling and enjoys travelling, hiking, basketball, golf, and baking. She plans to major in business and minor in Spanish at Augustana. 

Lily Petersen | Midfield | 5-4 | Sioux Falls, S.D. | Dakota Alliance SC



Barkus on Petersen: "Lily is another fantastic human being who fits our culture so well! From day one we knew she wanted to be a Viking and we worked hard to make that happen. She is a central midfielder who is a natural leader and has a fantastic work rate. Lily has experienced a tremendous amount of growth as an athlete and her soccer intelligence and mindset show us how driven she is to be impactful at the next level. We are excited to work with her and look forward to her wearing the Navy and Gold this fall!"

High School: Petersen will graduate from Harrisburg High School in May of 2020. She was awarded Academic All-State and All-Conference honors as a senior. Throughout her four years at Harrisburg, Peterson scored 18 goals and tallied 10 assists. 

Personal: Petersen was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Feb. 20, 2002, to parents Scott and Tara Petersen. Her hobbies include soccer, playing with her dog, and travelling. She plans on majoring in exercise science at Augustana. 

Sierra Schmidt | Forward/Midfield | 5-4 | Omaha, Neb. | Gretna Soccer Club



Barkus on Schmidt: "Sierra will come in and provide immediate depth at our flank position. She is so technical and extremely smart and we feel like she will add a ton to our team. I know as she adjusts to the speed of play and physicality at this level that Sierra will be simply amazing for our program. Sierra is very driven and competitive and wants to challenge herself, so we are excited to see how quickly she can make the transition to this level. Sierra is going to be tremendous!"

High School: Schmidt will graduate from Millard West High School in May of 2020. She scored four goals and tallied nine assists during her junior season en route to an 18-1 record, state title and All-State honorable mention. She scored four goals and recorded seven assists during her freshman and sophomore seasons. 

Personal: Schmidt was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on April 18, 2002, to parents Jamie and Beth Schmidt. She has two siblings and wants to join the medical field after Augustana. 

Ellie Schock | Forward | 5-6 | Sioux Falls, S.D. | Dakota Alliance SC



Barkus On Schock: "Ellie brings everything that you want in a student-athlete; she is driven to excel both on and off the field, has the right team-first mentality and is always ready to work. When you watch her play, you can see how much she loves it. Ellie is athletic, reads the game well, is good on the ball and makes good decisions. We anticipate her competing to play right away up front. She is a great addition for our Augie soccer family."

High School: Schock will graduate from Sioux Falls Christian High School in May of 2020. She scored 17 goals and tallied two assists during her senior season and owns the career goals record (59), career assists record (24), single-game goals record (6) and single-game assists record (3). She was also named First Team All-State during her sophomore, junior and senior seasons and was Academic All-State as a senior. Schock scored 22 goals and tallied five assists during her junior season. As a sophomore, she scored 16 goals and had 12 assists and  scored four goals and logged five assists during her freshman campaign. 

Personal: Schock was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on May 15, 2002, to parents Nathan and Barb Schock. She has two siblings and enjoys playing soccer and dancing. She plans on majoring in exercise science at Augustana and wants to become a pediatric physical therapist. 

Mackenzie Ternes | Defender | 5-8 | Vadnais Heights, Minn. | Salvo SC



Barkus on Ternes: "Mack is a hard nosed athletic player who can play anywhere in the back line. I've seen her as a crushing central back and also as an aggressive attacking outside back. She has tremendous determination and is absolutely relentless defensively. We feel she will come in and compete to play in the back where she will help us organizationally. She worked hard to get here and we are confident she will grow a lot in her four years as a Viking!"

High School: Ternes will graduate from White Bear Lake Area High School in June of 2020. She scored four goals and logged five assists as a senior and was named to the All-Conference team. As a sophomore, Teneres also gained All-Conference honors with three goals and 12 assists. 

Personal: Ternes was born in Maplewood, Minnesota, on November 28, 2001, to parents Eric and Janet Ternes. She has two older siblings and her hobbies include being outdoors, travelling, hanging out with friends, and playing with her dog.