Yael Averbuch (2009) - Patterson Medal Winners - University of North Carolina Athletics

Yael Averbuch

Induction:
2009
Class:
2009

2009— Yael Averbuch: Women's Soccer (Upper Montclair, N.J.)
Women’s soccer midfielder Yael Averbuch won four ACC titles and led the Tar Heels to NCAA championships in 2006 and 2008. She was Soccer Buzz.com’s National Player of the Year as a sophomore.

She earned first-team All-America honors in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and set an NCAA record with 105 consecutive starts, appearing in the starting lineup in every game as a Tar Heel. Against Yale in 2006, Averbuch scored four seconds into the match to set the record for fastest goal in NCAA women’s soccer history.

The Upper Montclair, N.J., native was a three-time Academic All-America. In 2008 she was the women’s soccer scholar-athlete of the year by ESPN The Magazine, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and the ACC.

She played professionally and for the United States Women’s National Team, helped create the National Women’s Soccer League’s Players Association and became general manager of the NJ/NY Gotham FC in the NWSL.