Dec. 15, 2016
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Five University of Notre Dame women’s soccer student-athletes have been recognized for their accomplishments on the field and in the classroom, earning spots on the National Soccer Coaches Association of American Women’s Scholar All-North/Central Region Teams.
Senior Kaleigh Olmsted was named to the all-region first team, while juniors Ginny McGowan and Taylor Klawunder and senior Sandra Yu earned second-team recognition. Junior Monica Flores earned third-team honors.
Olmsted capped her solid Notre Dame career with a four-goal, five-assist senior campaign and was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference First Team and the ACC All-Tournament Team. A native of The Woodlands, Texas, Olmsted will graduate with degrees in pre-medicine and art and boasts a 3.61 grade point average.
McGowan helped anchor a stout Irish back line that played a big role in Notre Dame’s 0.43 team goals against average in 2016. In her first full season as a starter, McGowan played in 97 percent of the team’s total minutes (1,949 of 2,004) and started all 21 games. She owns a 3.49 GPA as a marketing major.
Klawunder made 20 starts in 21 games for the Irish, clocking 1,826 minutes and scoring two goals and one assist on the season. For her efforts, she was named to the All-ACC Third Team, as well as the NSCAA All-Southeast Region Third Team. Klawunder is a finance major in the Mendoza College of Business and boasts a 3.97 GPA.
Yu was also an All-ACC pick, copping third team honors alongside Klawunder. A dynamic presence in the midfield, she has started in all 41 games of her career, including 21 games this season. In 2016, she scored a pair of goals and could be found sliding into the forward position to provide an offensive spark. Yu owns a 3.44 GPA as a science-business major.
Finally, Flores earned scholar all-region honors after a season in which she split time between outside back and the midfield, starting in 14 contests before departing to compete with Mexico at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup. Flores is a pre-professional studies major with a 3.75 GPA.
—
For the latest Fighting Irish women’s soccer coverage, be sure log on to UND.com, follow@NDSoccer on Twitter and like Notre Dame Women’s Soccer on Facebook.
–ND–
Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2014 and coordinates communications efforts for the Notre Dame women’s soccer, men’s tennis, women’s tennis and fencing programs. Norell is a 2011 graduate of Purdue University and earned her master’s degree from Georgetown University in 2013.