Dec. 14, 2017
By Megan Golden
NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The United Soccer Coaches released its Scholar All-America teams on Thursday, and Irish graduate student Sandra Yu was recognized with first-team honors.
The University of Notre Dame women’s soccer midfielder becomes the program’s 13th United Soccer Coaches (formerly NSCAA) Scholar All-American and first since Cari Roccaro received the honor in 2015. Yu is the first student-athlete to land on the Scholar All-America First Team since Lauren Fowlkes did so in 2010 and eighth all-time at Notre Dame.
An Irish women’s soccer player has received the accolade 16 times in school history.
On Nov. 30, Yu was named Notre Dame’s 53rd United Soccer Coaches (formerly NSCAA) All-American after setting career highs in nearly every statistical category in 2017. Yu is the first Notre Dame player to earn All-America honors since Roccaro (2015).
Hailing from Strongsville, Ohio, Yu started all 22 games for Notre Dame in 2017 and officially earned the start in each of the team’s past 63 games. Yu’s 21 points, eight goals and five assists more than doubled her previous career highs. Most notably, Yu tallied five points on two goals and one assist in Notre Dame’s 4-0 shutout victory over No. 24 NC State on Sept. 24.
Yu also was named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference First Team following the 2017 season.
To view the complete list of Scholar All-America teams, click here.
On Nov. 6, the University of Notre Dame women’s soccer team was selected as a recipient of the United Soccer Coaches’ 2017 Team Academic Award for the 13th season. Schools are required to achieve a team GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale in order to be considered for the award.
For behind-the-scenes coverage of the Irish women’s soccer program, follow @NDSoccer on Twitter and @NDWSoccer on Instagram.
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Megan Golden, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since August of 2016. In her role, she coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame women’s soccer and cross country/track and field programs. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Golden is a 2014 graduate of Saint Mary’s College and former Irish women’s basketball manager. Prior to arriving at Notre Dame, she worked in public relations with the Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox.