cover photo belongs to Scott Sommerdorf
Welcome to Everybody Soccer's first annual End of Year NCAA Goalkeeper Rankings for the women's college game. There are highlights listed for most of the seniors and a couple of juniors so feel free to see what the next wave of professional goalkeepers might look like. The NWSL draft kicks off January 15th and any of the seniors have a good chance of being selected.
While these are forty good goalkeepers, it's hard to catch each goalkeeper for the 333 programs. If you think I'm missing one, please drop me a line and I'll try to track down some video of them.
Seniors
1. Rachelle Beanlands (Canadian, Maryland) - 22
2. Lindsey Luke (Utah) - 23
3. Alyssa Giannetti (Cal Poly) - 21
4. Britt Eckerstrom (Penn State) - 22
5. Kathryn Scheele (Colorado) - 21
6. Bryane Heaberlin (North Carolina) - 22
7. Caroline Casey (William & Mary) - 21
8. Abby Smith (Texas) - 22
9. Megan Kufeld (Washington) - 22
10. Andi Tostanoski (Santa Clara) - 21
Bill says: Canadian youth national team member Rachelle Beanlands tops the list. She spent time with the Laval Comets, which most recently played in the now deceased W-League. Utah's Lindsey Luke probably has the strongest hands in the college game (watch highlights to see for yourself). Britt Eckerstrom won the W-League's Goalkeeper of the Year award for leading her team to the final in the W-League and also won the National Championship with Penn State. Scheele, Heaberlin, Smith, and Kufeld all share USYNT experience while Caroline Casey was named first team All-American.
Juniors
1. Jane Campbell (Stanford) - 20
2. Holly Van Noord (Liberty) - 21
3. Tarah Hobbs (Minnesota) - 20
4. Taylor Francis (Pittsburgh) - 20
5. Lauren Watson (Texas Tech) - 22
6. Katie Nickles (Rhode Island) - 20
7. Hannah Seabert (Pepperdine) - 20
8. Ashton McKeown (Long Beach State) - 21
9. Sammy Jo Prudhomme (USC) - 21
10. Lizzie Durack (English, Harvard) - 21
Bill says: Six goalkeepers carry over from September's rankings although Campbell is good enough that it's not inconceivable to see her skip her senior year if the right offer came along. Lauren Watson finished second behind Abby Smith (senior, Texas) in Big 12 honors. USC and Prudhomme look to build on last year's up and down season that ended in the round of 16.
Sophomore
1. Kaylyn Smith (Virginia Tech) - 19
2. Lexi Nicholas (Notre Dame) - 19
3. Kat Elliott (South Florida) - 20
4. Megan Hinz (Michigan) - 20
5. EJ Proctor (Duke) - 19
6. Erika Yohn (Purdue) - 19
7. Katie Hatziyianis (Binghamton) - 19
8. Cassidy Babin (Massachusetts) - 19
9. Nevena Stojokovic (Serbian, Florida International) - 20
10. Emily Boyd (California) - 19
Bill says: Proctor was a large part of Duke reaching the national championship this year and she's only going to be better next year. Lexi Nicholas split time for the Irish so while her numbers are down in comparison to Elliott, who started all twenty-two games for the Bulls, she's still on track to hearing her name called in a NWSL draft a few years down the line.
Freshmen
1. Sarah Le Beau (Auburn) - 19
2. Lainey Burdett (Arizona) - 19
3. Kaelyn Johns (Dayton) - 18
4. Ella Dederick (Washington State) - 19
5. Devon Kerr (Ohio State) - 18
6. Nonie Frishette (Wake Forest) - 18
7. Amanda Poertner (Idaho) - 19
8. Olivia Swenson (North Dakota) - 18
9. Kelsey Ponder (Arkansas State) - 18
10. Julia Schneider (Massachusetts-Lowell) - 19
Bill says: Admittedly, there are names truly flying under the radar here while some USYNT products that didn't even make the list. However, each goalkeeper had a positive impact on their programs. From players like Le Beau (second team All-SEC) or Ella Dederick (spent time with the U20s earlier this year) to lesser known ones like Ponder and Schneider, each one will get a shot at a bigger stage next fall.
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