University of Minnesota Athletics
Beal Drafted By FC Kansas City
1/12/2017 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
Golden Gopher standout Rashida Beal (Germantown, Wisc.) was selected as the No. 35 overall pick by FC Kansas City in the 2017 National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) College Draft on Thursday.
Beal emerged as one of the nation's top defenders in her senior season at Minnesota. Among her accomplishments included being named a NSCAA Second Team All-American, Big Ten Conference Defender of the Year and was ranked as No. 28 on TopDrawerSoccer.com's National Top 100.
"I'm looking forward to being challenged at the next level," Beal said. "I would like to thank my Gopher soccer family, including my coaches and teammates, it has been a great four years where the challenges have made me grow as a player."
Beal was a key defensive back for a Minnesota team that one both the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles for the first time in program history. She made countless offensive stops for a defense that recorded 14 shutouts and boasted a 0.52 goals against average.
Off the field, Beal was a leader for the Gophers in the classroom. She graduated early after studying psychology and neuroscience and was named a Co-SIDA Academic All-American.
