BLACKSBURG – Announced by the Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) Friday morning, the 2018 University Division All-State Women's Soccer teams feature three Virginia Tech women's soccer players, which is the most for the program since the 2014 season.
Earning spots on the first team are rising senior goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn and rising redshirt-senior defender Kelsey Irwin, while rising sophomore midfielder Emily Gray was selected to the organization's second team.
For Tech's goalkeeper, this is her third postseason honor, as she was also named All-ACC First Team and All-Atlantic Region Second Team by the United Soccer Coaches. McGlynn turned in her best season while playing for the Hokies in her three-year career. She started all 22 matches, played every single minute (2,056:43, the second-most ever in a single season at the school) and stopped 90 shots (seventh) for a 79.6 save percentage (eighth). McGlynn also posted a 1.01 goals against average (T-fifth), recorded 10 shutouts (second), won 11 matches (T-third) and also became the first goalkeeper to play every minute of the season in goal for Tech since 2004 (Mallory Soldner, 1,800).
The Jacksonville, Florida, native helped the Hokies make a return trip to both the ACC and NCAA Championship tournaments, a run that saw Tech reach the Round of 16 for the first time since 2014. She recorded back-to-back shutouts to open the NCAAs, which included a first round upset at No. 17 Texas. Her career numbers all rank in the top four at the school for goalkeepers and include 29 wins and 22 shutouts (both second), a 1.06 GAA in 5,262 minutes played (both third) and 221 saves and a 78.1 save percentage (both fourth).
This is also the third postseason honor for Irwin, as she was tabbed an All-Atlantic Region Third Team defender by the United Soccer Coaches and became just the second defender for the Hokies to make an All-ACC team, making the league's third team as well. The San Diego, California native led the defense in front of McGlynn, while also playing all 2,056:43 minutes of action this season – Tech's only field player to log every minute of the year.
She added points on the offensive end, scoring three times and adding an assist for a total of seven points, fourth-most on the team. At Villanova (Sept. 7), she notched her first career multi-goal game, and the first game winner of her collegiate career, with a pair of goals. Irwin became the first Hokie with a multi-goal contest since Oct. 9, 2016 when Murielle Tiernan scored twice at Boston College.
Gray picks up her second postseason honor to go along with her invitation last month to play for the U.S. Under-20 Women's National Team, which started its new cycle in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, in early December. She was among 20 players that trained for the 2018 Women's Nike International Friendlies and played all 90 minutes of a pair of matches against France and China PR.
For Tech this past season, Gray became the 13th Hokie to be named to the ACC All-Freshman Team, but the first since 2014 (Madi Conyers). She led the team with six assists during the season and also added a pair of goals for 10 points, second most on the team behind classmate Karlie Johnson's 12 (six goals).
The Sewell, New Jersey, native was dangerous on free kicks and took the majority of Tech's corners this season (43), which resulted in several goals. The most notably of them were in the Hokies' 1-0 wins over No. 6 Virginia (9/27), at Louisville (10/25), which put Tech into the ACC Championship tournament, and vs. Arkansas (11/16), advancing the Hokies into the Round of 16 in the NCAA Championship tournament.
In 2014, Tiernan and Jordan Coburn made the VaSID First Team, while Ashley Meier was a Second Team selection. In 2015 and 2016, Tiernan again was a first teamer, while Meier joined her on the first team in 2015 and Candace Cephers was a second team honoree in 2016. The Hokies did not have a player named to the team last season.