DENVER--Four WAC women's soccer players have been named to the Capitol One Academic All-District Team, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Seattle U's Julia Besagno, Stephanie Verdoia and Jacquie Wallis each earned first team honors, while Idaho's Katie Baran was selected to the second team.
Besagno is a senior midfielder for SU. She holds a 3.80 GPA and is majoring in Nursing. Besagno, one of two captains of the 2013 Redhawks squad, recently received her first WAC Player of the Week honor for the week of Oct. 21-27, after scoring three goals across the team’s two matches at New Mexico State and Kansas City. At UMKC on October 27, she recorded her first career two-goal match, her first game-winning goal of the season, and her first two non-penalty kick goals of 2013.
Verdoia, a junior forward and co-captain of the Seattle U soccer team, is a Political Science major with a 3.98 GPA. VShe ranks in the top 20 in NCAA Division I total points (34), points per game (2.00), total assists (10), and assists per game (0.59), also ranking in the top 35 in total goals (12) and goals per game (0.706). In the WAC, Verdoia leads every recorded individual offensive category including shots (60), shots per game (3.53), points (34), points per game (2.00), goals (12), goals per game (0.71), assists (10), assists per game (0.59), and game-winning goals (5). She has also received three WAC Offensive Player of the Week honors this season and was named Preseason WAC Offensive Player of the Year.
Wallis, a senior forward for the Redhawks, is a philosopy/cell and molecular biology major with a 4.00 GPA. She was named GoSeattleU.com Student-Athlete of the Week on Sept. 10, 2013, after tying the match at Purdue with a goal in the 40th minute in the team’s 2-2 draw (Sept. 8). Off the field, she participates in many areas on campus, including the Sullivan Leadership Program, which is committed to promoting personal and professional growth in alignment with the Seattle University mission. Over her career, she has recorded six goals, two assists, 14 points, 15 shots, and two game-winning goals.
Baran, a biology major, holds a 3.88 GPA and leads Idaho with seven points in 17 starts this season. Baran shares the team lead in assists with three. In Idaho soccer history, six players have earned double-digit career assists, Baran currently sits tied for fourth in the program’s history with 13 career assists and is sixth in the Idaho record books with 31 career points. According to topdrawsoccer.com, Baran is rated as the fifth-best player in the WAC in the website’s midseason player rankings.
First Team honorees advance to the Capital One Academic All-America® Team ballot where first, second, and third team All-America honorees will be selected in November. All four WAC Academic All-District honorees will be in action this week at the WAC Women's Soccer Tournament in Las Cruces, N.M.