Jan. 25, 2002
Notre Dame, Ind. – Notre Dame goalkeeper Chris Sawyer (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) has been named to the 11-member Soccer America All-Freshmen team. Sawyer becomes the first Irish men’s soccer player to earn the honor in the program’s 25-year history.
Sawyer, a second-team all-BIG EAST selection, started 14 of 15 games for Notre Dame during the 2001 campaign in which the Irish finished with a 12-7 record and earned an NCAA tournament berth for the first time since 1996. He posted a 10-4 record and registered 6.5 shutouts while playing 1294:45 of a possible 1739:22 minutes. Sawyer allowed just eight goals and made 48 saves for a .857 save percentage. In addition, his 0.56 goals against average ranked him fifth nationally as he registered six complete-game shutouts.
Sawyer twice earned BIG EAST weekly awards during the season as he was honored as the league’s rookie of the week for the week of Oct. 15 and then was named its goalkeeper of the week for the week of Oct. 22.
Sawyer was one of three BIG EAST players to earn a spot on Soccer America’s All-Freshmen squad. Syracuse forward Jarett Park was selected as the Soccer America Freshman of the Year.
Soccer America’s All-Freshman Team
Mike Ambersley (Indiana) * Forward
Knox Cameron (Michigan) * Midfielder
Ryan Cochrane (Sante Clara) * Ryan Cochrane
Clint Dempsey (Furman) * Midfielder
C.J. Klaas (Washington) * Midfielder
Alon Lubezky (Hartford) * Midfielder/Defender
Guy Melamed (Boston College) * Defender
Matt Oliver (Virginia) * Forward
Jarett Park (Syracuse) * Forward
Chris Sawyer (Notre Dame) * Goalkeeper
Marcus Storey (North Carolina) * Forward