JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Two Carson-Newman women's soccer players head out of the country this weekend with an opportunity to play for their country at the Turkey Alanya Gold City Women's Cup.
Goalkeeper Jackie Burns and forward Lauren Wade will play for the Northern Ireland national team in an upcoming tournament which will prepare the club for upcoming qualifiers for the World Cup.
"What an opportunity for the both of them to be able to go and represent Northern Ireland and Carson-Newman," Coach Simon Duffy stated. "I'm super excited for the both of them and it's a chance of a lifetime to play at that level."
Both players were integral parts of the 2017 National Finalist team at 21-1-1 which included regular season and conference tournament championships for the third-consecutive season.
Burns, a native of Cookstown, Northern Ireland, was one of the top keepers in the nation in 2017 posting a historic season of her own. The sophomore is the all-time winningest goalkeeper in women's soccer history at Carson-Newman and holds the title for the most career shutouts with 25.3, 14 of which came this past season.
She claimed All-SAC honors for the second-consecutive year, and cracked United Soccer Coaches First-Team All-Region. She also checked in on the D2CCA All-Region Second-Team. Burns allowed just 10 goals all season, including only have trailed for a total of 42:44 this season out of a possible 2112 minutes. Their six clean sheets in a row from Oct. 7 to Oct. 31 notched a new program record. She ended the year with a goals against average of .44, 19 points better than the record she set in 2016. Burns also added single season record in save percentage at .889.
"It's always an honor to represent my country in soccer," Burns exclaimed. "I enjoy being away in the professional environment playing a variety of different teams. Obviously the game is a bit different to playing college soccer but I hope that I will be able to improve my game and come back and be better than ever with the Eagles."
The Coleraine, Northern Ireland native Wade, is a two-time All-American for both the United Soccer Coaches and D2CCA teams after recording another breakout 2017 year with 49 points which was good for third in the nation. Her 18 goals led the team and 13 assists tied for the team lead. Wade also notched Southeast Region Player of the Year for the second-straight year, as well as First-Team All-Region in consecutive seasons.
Wade was named to South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons, also collecting first-team All-SAC honors, 2017 All-Tournament Team, and Tournament MVP. Wade tied the single season record for seven game winning goals, and broke the single season record of most shots on goal with 81. Her CoSIDA Academic All-American award marked her 13th award since the end of the regular season, shattering the previous mark of seven in which she set in 2016.
"It's a proud moment for me and it's an honor to represent the country," Wade mentioned. "I'm looking forward to meeting up with the team at the start of next week and excited to play against these different countries. As a player, you want to be competing at the highest level and I am very grateful to be given the opportunity to do so."
The tournament is scheduled to take place from Feb. 26 to March 7.
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