Ottawa Fury News Release - www.ottawafury.com

Wednesday, April 3, 2008

OTTAWA, ON -- The Ottawa Fury are pleased to announce that England U-23 Internationals Rachael Axon and Jodie Taylor will return for the 2008 W-League season. Axon and Taylor, who both play their varsity soccer for Oregon State University, will be joined in Ottawa by fellow OSU Beaver Courtney Wetzel.

“We are excited that Rachael and Jodie will return to the Fury. Both are international class players who were great additions to our squad last year,” said Fury Assistant Head Coach, Dom Oliveri. “Rachael is very versatile player who can play equally well in central defense or midfield while Jodie is extremely quick and her tremendous goal scoring record speaks for itself. Courtney is a highly rated young midfield player with W-League experience.”

Rachael Axon, from London, England, has played for her country at the U19, U21 and U23 national team levels. She helped England to a 3rd place finish in the Nordic Cup in 2005 and was also called up to play for the England U23 squad which played in the Nordic Cup in Finland last summer. Axon had a stellar season as a freshman midfielder/defender at the University of Alabama helping the Blazers to a Conference USA tournament championship and a trip to the NCAA Women’s College Cup. She appeared in all 20 games for the Blazers in 2006 and was named to the All-Conference USA second team, the conference All-Freshman squad and the C-USA All-Tournament team. Last season, she transferred to join England teammate Jodie Taylor at Oregon State University where she made 19 appearances. In a standout rookie W-League season, Axon made 10 appearances for the Fury last summer.

Jodie Taylor, from Birkenhead, England, is a regular member of the England U23 National Team squad. During her four years at Oregon State University, Taylor has rewritten the school record books. She is the only OSU player ever to have earned All-Pacific-10 Conference first team honors four years running. She is the OSU career record holder in goals and points and the first OSU player to record over 100 points in a career. In 78 career appearances, Taylor recorded 47 goals, 19 assists and 113 points. In her final season with the Beavers, Taylor led the team with 14 goals and 32 points as the Beavers finished with a 7-10-3 mark. Taylor, who previously played for the Boston Renegades in the W-League, joined the Fury last season. A call-up to the England U23 squad to play in the Nordic Cup in Finland restricted Taylor to only 6 appearances, but despite this she scored nine times.

Courtney Wetzel, from Puyallup in Washington State, is a promising midfielder from Oregon State University. In her freshman year, the 19 year old appeared in 19 of 20 games for the Beavers. A regular member of the Region IV ODP squad, she played for the Washington State ODP team which won the 2004 National championship and was a finalist in 2005.

Wetzel was a member of the FC Royals squad that captured the prestigious Dana and Gothia Cups in trips to Denmark and Sweden. She was a prolific goal scorer during her high school career notching 47 goals and 17 assists over three seasons. In 2007, she played in 8 games for the Seattle Sounders of the W-League.

The Fury have put together a tremendous W-League record over the past five seasons. They have qualified for the W-League Championship Finals in four of the last five years, losing in the semifinals in 2003 and 2004 and in the final to New Jersey and Vancouver in 2005 and 2006. In 2005 and 2007, the Fury were the W-League regular season champions. Last season, the club registered an unbeaten 11-0-1 record in regular season play and were defeated 1-0 by the eventual W-League champion Washington Freedom in the Eastern Conference final. The club has amassed a remarkable 58-5-3 regular season record over the past five years.

The Fury open their 2007 W-League campaign with a home game on Saturday, June 7th when they host the Western Massachusetts Pioneers at the University of Ottawa Athletic Complex, kick off 7:00 p.m. For season ticket information visit the Fury web site at www.ottawafury.com