June 2, 2017
By Joanne Norell
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame women’s soccer rising sophomore Natalie Jacobs has been added to the United States U-23 Women’s National Team roster, joining Irish teammate Sandra Yu at the 2017 U-23 Open Nordic Tournament next week in Sweden.
The U.S. will face Norway (June 6), England (June 9) and Sweden (June 12) during the trip. Jacobs has previously competed with the U.S. in the U-20 system, most recently during the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in November and December in Papua New Guinea.
Jacobs and the U.S. U-20s fell to Korea DPR in extra time during the World Cup semifinal. Jacobs played all 91 minutes of the semifinal match and totaled three appearances on the tournament.
Jacobs played a key role in helping the U.S. program win their fourth consecutive CONCACAF title in 2015 in Honduras, earning the automatic bid to the World Cup. Following that performance, Jacobs was named to the CONCACAF Championship Best XI team.
The Coto de Caza, California, native was a difference-maker on the 2015 Irish squad as a freshman. She totaled four goals and five assists in 20 games and was named to the All-ACC Freshman Team and the Top Drawer Soccer Freshman Best XI Second Team. She missed the 2016 NCAA season while training with the U.S. ahead of the World Cup.
–ND–
Joanne Norell, athletics communications assistant director 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, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communication, and earned her master’s degree in sports industry management from Georgetown University in 2013.