WEEK 6 2023 RUNDOWN- ECLIPSE SELECT ALUMNI

It was yet another exciting week in the books for our alumni across the college soccer landscape, with big-time storylines from big-time freshmen Bella Najera (St. Charles, IL.) and Mimi Van Zanten (Buffalo Grove, IL.) A stand-alone goal from Najera early in the first half was enough to push the Spartans past Wisconsin with a 1-0 road victory, marking her fifth goal of the year. On Sunday, with just a second remaining on the clock in the Seminoles game against North Carolina, Mimi put away her first collegiate goal with a spectacular volley to tie the #1 ranked Tarheels 3-3. 


GOALSCORERS

Graduate student Kiki Van Zanten (Buffalo Grove, IL.) tallied her second goal of the season in the 85th minute of play to push the Irish to a 2-1 victory over #16-ranked Duke on Thursday. Junior Morgan Fagan (Glencoe, IL.) scored her first of the season for BU with under 2 minutes left to go in the game, pushing the Terriers to a 2-0 home victory against Colgate. Midfielder Katelyn Nardulli (Naperville, IL.) made her scoring debut for the Flames late in the first half of their game against Drake, ending in a 3-1 home victory. Ella Richards (Chicago, IL.) scored her fourth of the season to tie the game back up 13 minutes into the first half against Virginia, ending in a score of 1-2. Lily Spotak (Palatine, IL.) scored her first goal of the season early in the first half against Ball State to keep the Eagles in the game, ending in a 1-1 tie. Xcaret Pineda (Bolingbrook, IL.) kickstarted the momentum for the Cowgirls vs. Kansas State after her goal in the 39th minute, marking her fifth of the season with OSU’s 2-0 home victory. Ella Koleno (Chicago, IL.) scored her second goal of the season late in the game to double WashU’s lead over Rose-Hulman, ending in a 3-0 home victory for the Bears. Abby Kalou (Buffalo Grove, IL.) scored her fourth in Lesley’s match against Thomas College with just 4 minutes to go, ending in a 2-0 victory for the Lynx. Chloe Grundhofer (New Lenox, IL.) slotted her first collegiate goal into the back post off a corner in Aurora’s match against Marian on Saturday.


PLAYMAKERS

Senior Kate Flynn (Woodridge, IL.) tallied two assists across WashU’s games against Rhodes (4-0) and Illinois Wesleyan (3-0), pushing her assist record to three. With just minutes to go, Bella Diorio (Lockport, IL.) notched her second assist of the season in TCU’s 5-1 road victory over West Virginia. Freshman Brooke Brown (Barrington, IL.) notched her first collegiate assist in the 79th minute of the Bears match versus Princeton. 


KEEPERS CORNER

Junior keeper Lauren Boafo (Hanover Park, IL.) had a total of 4 saves on 11 shots faced between the Broncos matches against NIU (3-0) and Bowling Green (0-0). Ashton Kudlo (Schererville, IN.) came up with a total of 11 saves on 31 shots faced across the Jaguars games against Cleveland State (2-2) and Youngstown State (1-0). Payton Cahill (Cottage Grove, MN.) made her season debut with 1 save on 8 shots faced in the Deac’s 2-0 win over Virginia.

Over 100 Eclipse Select Soccer Club alumni, both male and female, are rostered across every level of college soccer at Division I, II, III, and NAIA. There are 34 alumni designated as freshmen entering their first year of college. The remaining includes 31 sophomores, 36 juniors, 19 seniors, and one graduate student with an additional year of eligibility.