Shepherd, a defender from California, played NCAA Division-I soccer for the Michigan Wolverines in the Big Ten.
Hailing from Monte Vista High School, Shepherd was named the East Bay Athletic League (EBAL) MVP and racked up numerous youth club and high school accolades before moving to Ann Arbor.
A committed defender with strong field vision, Shepherd’s college career began as many do at the highest stage as she saw the field in six games for 191 minutes of playing time.
Back for her sophomore year in 2019, Shepherd jumped up to 23 games played with 21 starts, boosting the Michigan defense to six shutouts with one goal in two assists in nearly 2,000 minutes played. Her goal and one of her assists propelled the Wolverines to victory over Rutgers in the Big Ten Tournament, with the assist coming on the game-winning score. She helped lead the squad to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament before it was defeated by No. 2 North Carolina.
With the Covid-19 pandemic affecting the latter years of her career, Shepherd played in all 11 games of the abridged Spring 2021 (2020) season with eight (8) starts, helping secure four shutouts and scoring two goals.
In her final year with Michigan, in Fall 2021, she was the only Wolverine to start in all 24 matches with 18 complete games, leading all Michigan players with 2,100 minutes. She also added two assists to her career total.
Overall with Michigan, Shepherd was named to the All-Big Ten Tournament Team in 2019 andaccumulated numerous academic awards in conference.
She became a trialist with Lexington Sporting Club ahead of the club’s inaugural 2024 Super League season, seeing the field in friendlies against the University of Kentucky and the University of the Cumberlands.
With her strong play and work ethic, she was signed to a full contract ahead of the season open.
“We liked her,” Super League coach Mike Dickey said following the exhibition against UK. “I think she could help us, she’s somebody that really can play the way we want to play and she brings good positives to our culture and her ability to play.”
