Four Tar Heel Women's Soccer Players Named All-Region

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Four members of the 2017 University of North Carolina women's soccer team were named Wednesday to the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Women's All-East Region Team.

A pair of Tar Heels were named to the first team and another pair to the second team. First-team honorees are junior defender Julia Ashley of Verona, N.J. and freshman forward Alessia Russo of Kent, England. Second-team honorees are redshirt senior midfielder Joanna Boyles of Raleigh, N.C. and redshirt freshman defender Taylor Otto of Apex, N.C.

Ashley was a Tar Heel captain in 2017 and she was one of three Tar Heels to start all 22 games for Carolina this past season. Ashley played a team high 2,007 minutes for field players and she was the team's sixth-leading scorer with nine points. She scored the first two goals of her career, including the game winner against Virginia Tech, and she tied for fourth on the team in assists with five. Ashley was a second-team All-ACC selection and was named All-ACC Tournament as the Tar Heels claimed the conference crown.

Russo was named co-Freshman of the Year in the Atlantic Coast Conference. She played in 19 games and started 18. Russo led Carolina in goals scored with nine, in game-winning goals with six and she was third on the team in points with 20. She was named to the Freshman All-ACC Team and was named All-ACC Tournament. In the ACC Tournament, she won the event's most valuable player award, scoring the game-winning goal in a 1-0 semifinal win over NC State and notching the assist on the game-winning goal in the championship game 1-0 victory over Duke.

Boyles started all 22 games as a redshirt senior, playing 1,416 minutes. She was tapped for All-ACC second team honors and was also named All-ACC Tournament. Boyles finished fourth on the team in scoring with 17 points, notching six goals (tied for third on the team) and five assists (tied for third on the squad). She was one of the team's four captains in 2017 and one of three Tar Heels to start all 22 games.

Taylor Otto, an Apex, N.C., native, had a spectacular freshman year after red-shirting in 2016 while playing for the U.S. U20 National Team at the World Cup in Papua, New Guinea. Otto started 19 games for the Tar Heels and played in 22 contests overall. She was Carolina's fifth-leading scorer with 10 points on four goals and two assists. She was three-for-three in penalty kicks in 2017 and played 1,932 minutes, the second most of any field player behind Julia Ashley's 2,007 minutes.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Julia Ashley

Joanna Boyles

Taylor Otto

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