West Windsor, N.J. (Tuesday, December 1, 2009) – The New Jersey Wildcats announce today the addition of University of Connecticut, four-year starter, Lauren Ebert. The Hillsborough, New Jersey, native will take the field when the Wildcats host the Washington Freedom to open their season at The College of New Jersey on Thursday, May 27th at 7:30pm.
“Lauren is one of the top center backs in the country,” Wildcats head coach Kevin McDermott commented. “She will anchor our back line and we are very happy to have her as part of our 2010 team.”
2009 (Senior Season): Played in 21 games and started all 21 of them ... recorded 1945 minutes of play on defense for the Huskies. UCONN was 11-8-2 overall in 2009 and qualified for the Big East Tournament and was knocked out by Villanova in PK’s. UCONN alsod made it to the 2nd round of the NCAA tournament and eventually falling to # 7 Boston College 2-0.
2008 (Junior Season): Played in 18 games during the season starting 17 of them ... recorded 1299 minutes of play on defense for the Huskies missing time from Oct. 10 to Oct. 17 due to injury ... after stellar play during the UConn Classic against #11 Penn State (Sept. 12) and #1 UCLA (Sept. 14) she was named to the UConn Classic All-Tournament team ... recorded a season high three shots, all of which were on goal, against Providence (Sept. 19) ... named to the NEWISA All-New England Second Team.
2007 (Sophomore Season): Started all 22 games for the Huskies’ defense that allowed only 14 goals on the season ... recorded on goal and three assists during the year ... assisted on game winning goal in 2-1 win over Central Connecticut (Sept. 9) ... scored first goal of the season in 5-1 win over Brown (Sept. 14) ... assisted on lone goal in the Huskies’ 1-0 win against USF (Sept. 28) ... helped lead UConn defense to 11 shutouts in 22 games during the season.
2006 (Freshman Season): Started all 18 games in which she appeared on the Huskies’ back line ... notched her first career assist in UConn’s 2-1 win at Central Connecticut ... scored her first career goal as she tied UConn’s second round game with top-seeded Texas at one goal apiece in the second round of the NCAA Women’s College Cup ... helped the Husky defense record nine shutouts, including five in a row in October.
Before UConn: Four-year soccer letterwinner at Hillsborough High School ... Soccer Buzz Top-50 college recruit ... Olympic Development Program Region 1 Selection ... Olympic Development Program `88 National Pool Selection ... member of USL Super Y-League under-17 National Team and Super Y-league select team ... named to Mid-Atlantic USL Super-Y League ODP U-15 Regional Pool ... played for New Jersey State ODP team ... 2003 USL Y-League Most Valuable Player of the Year ... captain of Parsippany Mischief, the 2003 New Jersey State Cup Champions and Super Y-League National Champions ... named First Team All-State, All-Somerset County, All-Conference and All-Area in 2005 ... team MVP in 2004 and 2005 ... earned the Team Leadership Award in 2002 ... set the team record for most goals in a game with four on two occasions ... was the team’s leading scorer in 2003 and 2004 ... honor roll student.
Tickets for the NJ Wildcats home opener on May 27th at TCNJ are available now by calling 732-963-9769.
ABOUT THE NEW JERSEY WILDCATS
The New Jersey Wildcats played their debut season in the W-League in 1996 and have competed every season since. Under the guidance of then-head coach Charlie Naimo, the Wildcats compiled a 41-1 regular season record from 2004-06, winning regular season titles in 2004 and 2006 while taking the W-League championship in 2005. Following the 2005 season, the Wildcats were named the USL Franchise of the Year, and Naimo won the FieldTurf W-League Coach of the Year award in 2006.
ABOUT THE USL W-LEAGUE
The USL W-League played its inaugural season in 1995, and it is recognized as the premiere development league for female players in North America. The schedule is set to open next May and commence in August.
