EDWARDSVILLE – Edwardsville's girls soccer program has had much success the past several years, both on and off the field. The program has sent many players to some of the best colleges in the nation.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
Megan Bowman became the latest Tiger to reach the NCAA Division I level in the sport in a ceremony Wednesday afternoon at EHS, signing a letter of intent to play next fall for Illinois-Chicago's program; the Flames are members of the Horizon League, which includes schools such as Cleveland State, Detroit, Green Bay, Milwaukee, Indiana-Purdue Indianapolis, Wright State and Youngstown State.
“I've always wanted to go to a big city and Chicago was the closest to home,” Bowman said when asked what made her decide to attend UIC. “I was looking at schools up there and UIC was a big draw because of the soccer team and the coach (Brian Rigby) – I really like him and the school itself was really great.
“It'll be a big change (going from Edwardsville and the St. Louis area to the city of Chicago), but I think I'm ready for it.”
Bowman came to soccer as a child. “Back when I was little, my parents put me in pretty much every sport there was,” Bowman recalled, “so I've pretty much done it all, but I stuck with soccer because I was just the best at it.”
When asked who she models her game after, Bowman mentioned two of the world's top players – Christiano Ronaldo, the Portugese international player for Real Madrid of Spain's La Liga, and Lionel Messi, the Argentine international for La Liga's FC Barcelona – two of the world's top players.
“I couldn't be happier for her,” said new Tiger coach Abby Federmann of Bowman's signing with UIC. “That program is fortunate to have such an outstanding player coming their way. It's a great moment and she's probably one of my favorites to coach, so I'm thrilled to be a part of this.
“Megan has the great ability to make the girls around her want to work hard by her work ethic; she's passionate, she's quite serious about this game of soccer and being good at it. She's so solid in the midfield that I never have to worry while she's in there – she's brought a lot to the table . She'll be missed next year for sure; she'll go out with a bang, for sure.”
Bowman is a player that Federmann said of her “she's one of those kind of players that I know what I'm going to get when she's in the game, and it's going to be 100 percent; her desire to win is bar none.”
Bowman plans on majoring in civil engineering at UIC with the aim of joining her dad Steve as a structural engineer after her graduation.
