Ole Miss Soccer goalkeeper Shu Ohba has emerged as a defensive powerhouse for the Rebels the past two seasons. Outside of SEC play, Ohba contributes her athletic talents to her home country of Japan.
Background
Ohba is from Fujisawa, Japan, where she beganher soccer career at Fukushima Prefectural Futaba Future Senior High School.
During her high school career, Ohba represented her home country on the world stage as a member of the Japanese women’s U16-19 teams. She played in the FIFA U17 World Cup in Uruguay in 2018, earned a third-place medal in the 2018 Asian Qualifiers and earned a gold medal in the U19 Asian Qualifiers in 2020.
Ohba also played club soccer for the JFA Academy Fukushima LSC team and won the 2021 Challenge League Championship. Coming out of high school, she committed to play DI soccer for the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers.
Career highlights
In 2021, Ohba started all 16 games for East Tennessee State, recording 16 saves and finishing the season with a 7-6-3 record.
In just one season, Ohba was named the Southern Conference Freshman of the Year, First Team All-SoCon selection, First Team All-SoCon Freshman honors and earned three SoCon Defensive Player of the Week honors. Ohba is the second player in conference history to win Defensive Player of the Week multiple times in one season.
Ohba recorded seven shutouts in her rookie season, allowing only 14 goals and breaking the East Tennessee State record. Ohba was ranked No. 23 nationally in save percentage at .841 and No. 47 in goals against average at .833.
Ohba then returned for her sophomore season at East Tennessee State in 2022. In 10 games, she tallied 60 saves after missing the first four games to play for Japan’s women’s U20 FIFA World Cup team in Costa Rica.
At the end of the 2022 season, she transferred to Ole Miss as a goalkeeper for the Rebels.
Ohba began her junior season at Ole Miss in 2023, playing in 15 games and starting in four of them. She missed three games to play for Team Japan in the 2023 Asian Games in China and the 2024 SheBelieves Cup.
Ohba was named to the 2023 All-SEC Second Team and was a 2023 United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region honoree. During the regular season, Ohba led the SEC in saves and saves per game.
Finishing her first season with the Rebels, she recorded seven shutouts for the second time in her career. Ohba was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week twice over the season, becoming the first player to do so for Ole Miss since 2012.
Ohba returned to Ole Miss for her senior season and has had 42 saves thus far. The Rebels are currently 5-8 on the season, most recently falling short against Texas at home. Ohba had a phenomenal eight saves despite the Rebels’ 1-0 loss.
What’s next?
The Rebels will host conference rival Texas A&M on Friday, Oct. 4. at 7 p.m.
