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Dec. 12, 2008

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The University of Louisville women's soccer team will have a new addition to its corps of goalkeepers this spring as U.S. National Team goalkeeper Taylor Vancil (Elgin, Ill.) will be entering as a freshman in January.

Vancil recently represented the U.S. Women's National Team in the Under 17 World Cup in New Zealand, where she helped lead the US to a second-place finish and received the "Golden Glove" Award given to the best goalkeeper of the tournament. She is also ranked as a top 50 national recruit by both TopDrawerSoccer.com and ESPN Rise online.

"I decided on attending the University of Louisville because I have optimism in the program, and see it growing to become one of the bigger powers in the Big East, as well as the national spotlight. I have complete faith in the coaching staff on helping me to reach my full potential, and the bottom line is I want to win a National Championship with my team. The University of Louisville has a lot of support behind all of their athletic programs and I not only expect to improve as a soccer player, but as a person," says Vancil.

Louisville head coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes says of Vancil, "We are thrilled to add a player of Taylor's ability to our program. She has done extremely well at both the club and youth national team levels, and we know that she will make our goalkeeping situation tremendously competitive."

A native of Elgin, Ill., Vancil has gained much of her experience competing with her club team, Eclipse. She won a U.S. Youth Soccer National Championship in 2006 with Eclipse, and in that event she also received the "Golden Glove" Award for goalkeeper of the tournament.

With Eclipse she has worked under the tutelage of Director of Goalkeeping Mike Bristol, who says "Taylor possesses tremendous athletic ability and has a very high level understanding of the game. She does a great job staying connected to the play and being in good positions, which allows her to anticipate and break up plays before they become dangerous. She works extremely hard both on and off the field, and that work ethic will serve her well as she makes the transition to the college game. It has been great watching her develop over the past few years into a national team goalkeeper, and I look forward to following her development over the coming years at Louisville."

Following some strong performances leading up to the World Cup, Vancil earned the starting job. She had standout performances against France to help put the team through to the knockout round and North Korea in the final where she faced a barrage of shots from a strong Korean team.

Louisville goalkeeping coach Kyle Singer says "I'm looking forward to working with a goalkeeper like Taylor, who has a wealth of experiences to draw on. We have a talented group of goalkeepers here right now and with Taylor in the mix, it will only help them push each other to develop and grow as goalkeepers, and that growth will help us become a better team as we move begin to prepare for next fall."

Vancil will join the team in January for the second semester and will be eligible to compete in all spring contests. She will retain her eligibility and join the rest of the incoming 2009 class as a freshman next fall.