The Boston Breakers announced today that they had signed Swedish defender Lotta Ökvist. The former Swedish youth international will be joining the Breakers in 2018 for the upcoming National Women's Soccer League after agreeing to a move away from Piteå IF to Boston.
Ökvist can bring new life to the Breakers' defense or midfield
Lotta Ökvist can play in defense or in midfield and pending receipt of her P-1 Visa and International Transfer Certificate (ITC), will be set to play in either role for Boston next year. According head coach Matt Beard, Ökvist versatility "will be a great addition" to the roster and that her technical ability and possessing a good left foot, will aid the Breakers reach their aims for 2018.
Ökvist spoke to the club's website, stating her "excitement to play in the NWSL". The Swede went on to say that she had been impressed by the overall organization of the Breakers and hoped to help the team reach the playoffs next year.
Ökvist will look to draw experience from her time in the Damallsvenskan
During the 2016/2017 Damallsvenskan season, Ökvist appeared in 25 games for Piteå after playing part of 2016 with Umea. Before that, Ökvist had featured 27 times for Piteå so she does have experience playing in a high level league. Piteå may not have been the highest ranked team in Sweden, but on their day, they managed to cause problems for the big teams and that was partly due to the play of Ökvist in defense. Beard will be hoping the same will happen for the Breakers next year once Ökvist becomes acclimatized to the team and the league.
For her country, Ökvist featured for Sweden's U-17 and U-19 national teams and helped the U-19 team win the FIFA U-19 Women's European Championship title in 2015/2016.
Quotes via BostonBreakers.com