Seth Stader signed his National Letter of Intent Wednesday at Marshall County High School to play soccer at the University of Evansville, under Head Coach Marshall Ray. Ray is a former Marshall County stand-out soccer player and was inducted into the Marshall County Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011. He has been the head coach for the Purple Aces for the past three season and recently signed a contract extension.
University of Evansville is a Division I school and member of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished this past season 11-8-2 overall and advanced to the semi-finals of the MVC Tournament before falling in penalty kicks to Missouri State.
Strader saw playing time as a freshman before becoming a full-time starter his sophomore year and continued through his senior year. He was a part of the Marshals regional title his freshman year and the past three seasons, ran the midfield and was the engine of the team. In four years, he has contributed to the Marshals 47-28-6 record over that time, scoring 14 goals with 24 assists.
Known for his tremendous talent, ability and work ethic, Strader has received All-Second District honors the past two seasons and was selected to the Region I Olympic Development Program team for Kentucky.
“Seth deserves this opportunity, to continue the sport he has loved for many years while pursuing a degree at a very distinguished university, both athletically and academically”, Head Coach Donnie Heath said. “Seth was always involved in the play, whether it was setting up an opportunity for a teammate or capitalizing on one himself, he always put himself and his teammates in a position to be successful. He is very hardworking and is as reliable as a player can be. He has raised his level of play steadily for the past three seasons and has developed his leadership to go along with it.”
Heath said they are very proud of Strader who he feels has worked very hard for this opportunity with the dedication, effort and time he has put in, that has allowed him to develop into a quality player and continue at the collegiate level.
“It’s amazing to go to a DI school led by Coach Ray”, Strader said. Adding the school appealed to him also because of their engineering program. Strader hopes to prove what he is capable of with the UE soccer program and plans to major in Chemical Engineering.
Strader credits many along the way who have helped develop him into the player he is today, including past and current MCHS coaches Donnie Heath, Bryan Blevins, Tyler McKenty, Nathan Arant, Ian Umstead, Brandon Dodd and Andy Pagel. Western Kentucky PAO, Indiana Fire Juniors and Coach Bennet and the Marshall County program have also played large roles in his growth as a person and as a player as well as family support throughout his entire soccer career.
“Seth’s contributions to the program will be missed at Marshall County but we wish him well and know he will excel”, Heath said. “We are proud of the young man he is becoming. We are blessed that his parents and younger brother Jase will remain part of our program.”
