Feb. 7, 2017
by Tony Jones
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Five University of Notre Dame players were selected to the 2016 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) All-Academic Men’s Soccer Team that was announced on Tuesday.
Junior forward Jon Gallagher, senior forward Mark Gormley, freshman defender Tommy McCabe, fifth-year senior midfielder/tri-captain Evan Panken and fifth-year senior defender/tri-captain Michael Shipp represented Notre Dame on the all-academic team. Panken earned his fourth straight selection to the all-academic squad, while Gallagher and Shipp returned for the second straight year. Gormley and McCabe claimed the conference all-academic nod for the first time.
Minimum academic requirements for selection to the All-ACC Academic Team are a 3.0 grade point average for the previous semester and a 3.0 cumulative average during one’s academic career for undergraduate students. Athletic achievements during the most recent season are also considered in selecting the All-ACC Academic Team.
Gallagher was named the 2016 ACC Offensive Player of the Year after leading the conference with 14 goals and 35 points in 21 starts. A College Soccer News All-America and NSCAA all-region choice, Gallagher added seven assists and five game-winning goals to his offensive accolades during his junior season. Gallagher is enrolled as a management consulting major in the Mendoza College of Business.
Gormley enjoyed a breakout season as a striker on the Notre Dame attack, scoring five goals with one assist in 21 matches played (six starts). All three of Gormley’s main offensive statistics were career-highs, and he scored his first career game-winning goal against Michigan early in the 2016 season. Gormley is enrolled as a pre-professional studies major in the College of Science.
McCabe, an ACC All-Freshman choice during his rookie collegiate season, started all 21 contests for Notre Dame in 2016. McCabe helped secure nine team shutouts for the Irish from the midfield, and earned his first collegiate assist during a quarterfinal ACC Championship matchup with Duke. McCabe enrolled in Notre Dame’s cutting edge First Year of Studies program after officially joining the Irish last January as an early enrollee from IMG Academy in Florida.
Panken became the first Notre Dame men’s soccer player to be recognized on the ACC All-Academic Team in each of his four seasons in the league, adding to his all-ACC third team performance in 2016. Panken started all 21 matches in the Irish midfield, scoring two game-winning goals and adding six assists for 10 points. One of the top 10 assists men in Notre Dame men’s soccer history (22 career assists), Panken graduated with a degree in pre-professional studies and Spanish from the College of Science in the spring of 2016.
Shipp returned to the ACC All-Academic Team for the second straight season as a graduate team captain in 2016. Shipp was a member of the Notre Dame defensive corps for all 21 matches and played a key role in all nine Irish shutouts during the year. He also earned 2015 CoSIDA Academic All-America first team and 2013 NCAA Elite 89 Award honors during his career. Shipp graduated with a degree in pre-professional studies and Spanish from the College of Science in the spring of 2016.
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Tony Jones, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2012 and coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame softball and men’s soccer programs. A native of Jamestown, New York, Jones is a 2011 graduate of St. Bonaventure University, and prior to arriving at Notre Dame held positions at the University of Louisiana Monroe and with the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills.