GREENSBORO, N.C. – Announced today by the Atlantic Coast Conference, the 2019 Women's Soccer All-ACC Academic Team features 60 of the conference's student-athletes and features four Virginia Tech players led by three-time honoree Mandy McGlynn, includes Kelsey Irwin and Jaylyn Thompson, repeat selections from a year ago, and Emily Gray, her first time on the team. The four Hokies named to the team match the number recognized last season.
McGlynn, who graduated in December with a degree in Human, Nutrition, Food & Exercise and just became Tech's highest ever drafted women's soccer player, has piled up numerous honors this past season as she has etched her name alongside the best ever to play for the Hokies. Just a few of her postseasons honors since the conclusion of the 2019 season include United Soccer Coaches Second Team All-American and First Team Scholar All-American, TopDrawerSoccer Best XI First Team, and a repeated selection as an All-ACC First Team goalkeeper.
In 2019, McGlynn stopped 76 shots for an 83.5 save percentage, which was the second-best mark ever in a single season at the school (Karen Crawley, 86.8, 1997). Meanwhile, her 0.772 goals allowed average was also second-best (Caroline Kelly, 0.69, 2014), her 10 shutouts were tied for second (Dayle Colpitts, 11, 2013) and her 12 wins were third all-time.
The Jacksonville, Florida native's career numbers place her in the top three for a career goalkeeper at the school, which includes a school record 32 shutouts and a 0.99 GAA. Her 41 wins, 7,014 minutes played (both most since 2013) and 79.4 save percentage (best since 1997) were second and her 297 saves were third (most since 2006). She was drafted by Sky Blue FC with pick No. 20 in the 2020 NWSL Draft a couple of weeks ago.
Irwin, who graduated early with a degree in Criminology and a master's degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Hospitality and Tourism Management just this past December, adds this selection to her second team state selection and her repeat choice as an All-ACC Third Team defender from 2019. She became just the second defender for the Hokies to make an All-ACC team and joined Jordan Coburn as a repeat selection, as Coburn was a three-time All-ACC Third Team defender (2013-15). Irwin was an all-state first team choice in 2018.
The San Diego, California, native led the defense in front of McGlynn and limited opponents to 197 shots on the year. A season after playing all 2,057 minutes – Tech's only field player to log every minute of the year – she was one of six field players in 2019 to see more than 1,100 minutes (1,362) despite missing four matches due to injury. Her 90.8 minutes played per game is the second-most among Tech field players this season.
She also posted a career high eight points on the offensive end, scoring three times and adding two assists, fifth-most on the team. Versus Boston College (Oct. 24), she notched her second career multi-goal game, and her second career game winner, with a pair of goals off free kicks in a 2-1 victory. Irwin became the third Hokie with a brace this season.
Thompson, who also graduated in December with a degree in Human, Nutrition, Food & Exercise and most recently signed a professional contract to play for Zaragoza FCC in Spain, is named to her first postseason team with the selection. In her Tech career, Thompson started 72 of 74 total matches for the Hokies, which included starting the final 69 straight games, the longest streak since 2012 when Kelsey Mitchell (2009-12) started all 88 matches of her career.
The native of Voorhees, New Jersey was one of five Hokies to start all 19 matches this year and logged the most minutes (1,732) of any field player for Tech in 2019, sitting out just 16 minutes all season. In 2019, her final campaign with Tech, she recorded her first collegiate point with an assist on the game-winning goal at Georgia on August 30.
Gray, a rising junior studying Multimedia Journalism, is the only undergraduate Hokie on the team. She started and played in just 10 matches this season, but adds this honor to her selection on the 2019 United Soccer Coaches All-Region Third Team as a midfielder. Despite missing the final nine matches, Gray still finished second on the team with four goals and tied for second in points with 10, while she led the team with three game-winning goals.
The Sewell, New Jersey product enjoyed the best part of her season in a two-week stretch that helped the Hokies improve to a 9-0 start in 2019. At the Battle by the Beach in Wilmington, North Carolina, Gray scored her first of the year against the College of Charleston (Sept. 13) with her tally coming 4:57 into the contest, which held for the game winner in Tech's 1-0 win over the Cougars. It was the fastest goal scored by a Tech player since Murielle Tiernan found the back of the net in 2:27 in a match against Georgetown (Nov. 21, 2014).
Gray then equaled teammate Nicole Kozlova's feat of scoring back-to-back game winners, when she tallied her second goal of 2019 against UNCW (Sept. 15) in the 26th minute of another 1-0 win over the Seahawks. With the performance, Gray was named the MVP of the tournament. She matched Kozlova again with a brace in Tech's 2-0 ACC home-opening win over Miami (Sept. 21), including another game winner.
With the efforts, Gray became the first Hokie to score goals in three straight matches since Tiernan, who scored in five straight from Sept. 19 through Oct. 8, 2015. She also became the first Tech player to score three straight game-winning goals since Tiernan, four straight from Sept. 24-Oct. 8, 2015. The two goals in ACC play tied for Tech's lead in goals with Irwin and Molly Feighan, while her two overall assists tied for the third-most for the Hokies
To see the full 2019 All-ACC Academic team and release, CLICK HERE.