May 24, 2000

NEW YORK, N.Y. — Notre Dame women’s soccer All-American goalkeeper LaKeysia Beene has been chosen as one of 24 players allocated to the eight teams that will begin play April in the Women’s United Soccer Association professional women’s soccer league. The Gold River, Calif., native as been assigned to the San Francisco Bay Area team, along with defender Brandi Chastain and midfielder Tisha Venturini. Beene is one of only four college players during the 1999 season among the 24 players chosen on Wednesday.

Three initial players have been designated to each of the eight teams. Other cities with WUSA teams are Atlanta, Boston, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Diego and Washington, D.C. Former Irish All-American Kate Sobrero (1994-97) will play for the Boston team. The allocations were made in a three-step process. Each player was asked to list her top three choices. Geographic considerations, marketability and, most importantly, competitive balances were taken into account.

Beene wrapped up her four-year career at Notre Dame in 1999 by being named to the NCAA all-tournament team after leading the Irish to the NCAA Women’s College Cup final. She shut out eighth-ranked Stanford in the NCAA third round, held fourth-ranked Nebraska to one goal in a four-overtime NCAA quarterfinals game and blanked top-ranked Santa Clara in the NCAA semifinals to lead the Irish to their four NCAA championship game appearance in the last six years. The 1998 BIG EAST goalkeeper of the year finished her career by setting the Irish record for career goals against average with a 0.63 mark.