Nov. 5, 2015
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Four University of Notre Dame women’s soccer players have been honored by the Atlantic Coast Conference, earning all-league nods Thursday when the conference announced its annual awards.
Senior forward Anna Maria Gilbertson and senior defenders Katie Naughton and Cari Roccaro were named to the All-ACC Second Team, while freshman forward Natalie Jacobs was named to the league’s All-Freshman Team.
Gilbertson has led the Irish on the offensive end this season, tallying a team-high 11 goals and 24 points. She has paced the ACC in shots (94) and shots per game (5.22) this season, and is fifth in the league in goals and goals per game (0.61). Her five game-winning goals are the second-best in the conference. Thursday’s selection was her first all-conference honor.
Naughton and Roccaro have anchored the Irish back line as its central defensive unit, allowing just nine goals on the season and 5.4 shots per game. The pair have started in every one of Notre Dame’s games this season, with Naughton playing every minute and Roccaro missing just 23 minutes of game time on the year.
Naughton was also named to the All-ACC Second Team in 2014, while Roccaro was a first-team honoree in 2013 and 2014.
Jacobs emerged as a offensive threat for the Irish almost immediately, and is Notre Dame’s second-leading scorer with four goals, five assists and 13 points. She has notched two game-winning goals on the year and her 48 shots are second on the team.
The No. 11/ 7 Irish will learn their postseason fate next Monday, November 9 when the NCAA releases the Division I Women’s Soccer Championship selections. The Irish are ranked 10th in the RPI and will host a first-round matchup the weekend of November 13-15.
—
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.