CHARLOTTE – For the second consecutive year, Notre Dame senior Eva Gaetino is your ACC Defender of the Year. In addition, for the second year in a row, six Notre Dame women’s soccer players are taking home end-of-the-season ACC hardware.
Back-to-Back!@evagaetino is your 2023 @theACC Defender of the Year!#GoIrish ☘️ pic.twitter.com/l6X0Jq9L7p
— ND Women's Soccer (@NDSoccer) November 1, 2023
The breakdown for ACC awards goes as follows:
- First Team All-ACC: Eva Gaetino & Kiki Van Zanten
- Second Team All-ACC: Maddie Mercado & Leah Klenke
- All-Freshman Team: Charlie Codd & Morgan Roy
Gaetino
Gaetino becomes the third player to win Defensive Player of the Year honors twice since the award’s inception in 2004 and just the second to win it in back-to-back seasons (Malia Berkely, Florida State 2019-20). The Dexter, Michigan, native anchored a backline that has posted five clean sheets this season, including two shutouts to end the regular season that helped clinch a bye in the 2023 Ally ACC Women’s Soccer Championship.
Now a two-time First Team All-ACC selection, Gaetino has stepped up her game offensively as well and has recorded a career-best four goals and three assists for a career-high 11 points.
Van Zanten
Fellow captain Kiki Van Zanten earned her first First-Team All-ACC honor and second ACC award overall (2020 Third Team). Van Zanten ranks second on the team in points (15) and goals (6), as the latter is one shy of her career high.
Mercado
Mercado earns her highest ACC team honor of her career with her Second Team nod. She was a Third Team selection in 2022. This season, Mercado leads the team in both goals (7) and points (16). She also boasts the most game-winners with three.
Klenke
An All-Freshman Team selection a year ago, Klenke elevated her game in year two and earned Second Team All-ACC honors because of it. Klenke leads the team with 10 assists, which ranks 11th nationally and second in the ACC. Her 0.6 assists per game rank 13th in the country and second in the league. She now has a career-best 14 points on the season.
Furthermore, Klenke has been dynamic down the stretch, registering points in 10 of the last 13 matches. She had seven assists in conference play.
Codd
Charlie Codd has made two starts and seen significant time in both the midfield and up top in all 17 games. She turned up the heat in October, in which she has scored all three of her goals.
Roy
Moran Roy has started in all but one game in the midfield at right-back and ranks third on the team in shots with 31. She has tallied one goal and four assists for six points.
— ND —