SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Four Irish players have landed on Top Drawer Soccer's 2026 Preseason Best XI Teams. Izzy Engle (First Team), Annabelle Chukwu (Third Team), Reese Canada (Freshman Team), and Gracie Milam (Freshman Team) represented Notre Dame in the preseason accolade.
Engle and Chukwu were also selected to the Preseaon All-ACC Team this year.
Last season, Engle was a MAC Hermann Trophy Finalist, USC All-American First Team honoree, Honda Sport Award for Soccer Finalist, USC All-Atlantic Region First Team honoree, First Team All-ACC honoree, and is the reigning ACC Offensive Player of the Year.
Chukwu was also a First Team All-ACC honoree, USC All-Atlantic Region First Team honoree, and was named to the USC All-American Second Team.
As a part of Top Drawer Soccer's fourth-ranked recruiting class, this is freshman Reese Canada's and freshman Gracie Milam's first accolades with the Irish this season.
Preseason Best XI Teams
First Team
F: Hope Leyba (Colorado), Izzy Engle (Notre Dame), Mia Minestrella (Duke)
M: Charlotte Kohler (Stanford), Summer Denigan (North Carolina), Y-Lan Nguyen (Stanford), Samantha Erbach (Florida State)
D: Finley Lavin (Memphis), Caroline Castans (Kansas), Morgan Brown (TCU)
GK: Valentina Amaral (Wake Forest)
Second Team
F: Sydney Watts (Vanderbilt), Wrianna Hudson (Florida State), Kennedy Bell (Michigan State)
M: Ellie Walbruch (BYU), Ai Kitagawa (Memphis), Amanda Schlueter (Ohio State), Kamdyn Fuller (TCU)
D: Janet Okeke (Florida State), Faith Leyba (Colorado), Cameron Roller (Duke)
GK: Caroline Birkel (Stanford)
Third Team
F: Alex Buck (Washington), Taylor Zdrojewski (Texas Tech), Ginny Lackey (James Madison)
M: Annabelle Chukwu (Notre Dame), Joy Okonye (Brown), Samantha Courtwright (Duke), Kayla Briggs (Michigan State)
D: Daya King (Duke), Hailey Baumann (Wisconsin), Izzi Stratton (North Carolina)
GK: Izzy Lee (Illinois)
Freshman Team
F: Ayva Jordan (Tennessee), Ireland Churchill (Texas A&M), Danielle Chaump (Kentucky)
M: Mia Corona (UCLA), Reese Canada (Notre Dame), Rylee McLanahan (Duke), Elayna Kocher (Penn State)
D: Lillian Osifodunrin (Georgia), Cali O'Neill (North Carolina), Gracie Milam (Notre Dame)
GK: Josie Biehl (USC)