MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University seniors and Canadian Olympians Kadeisha Buchanan and Ashley Lawrence were named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Preseason Best XI First Team this morning.
The duo, hopefuls for the 2016 Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) Hermann Trophy and 2015 NSCAA All-America First Team honorees, are the lone Big 12 Conference representatives listed on one of the site’s four preseason squads.
Buchanan, a defender, and Lawrence, a midfielder, were unanimous selections to the Preseason All-Big 12 Soccer Team one week ago. Currently starting on the backline for Canada at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, the duo will play Germany in a semifinal match today at 3 p.m. ET, at Mineirão Stadium, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
A native of Brampton, Ontario, Buchanan was previously named to the TDS.com Preseason Best XI First Team in 2014 and 2015. She returns to anchor a WVU defense which posted a program-record 15 shutouts last season. A three-time NSCAA All-American and two-time First Team honoree, she is the three-time reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.
Lawrence, a Toronto native, was named to the TDS.com Preseason Best XI Third Team last season. She shows 19 career assists and enters her final season at WVU needing one more assist to move onto the program’s all-time career list. Lawrence finished third on the team in 2015 with 18 points (5 G, 8 A), the fifth-best total in the Big 12 Conference.
The No. 5-ranked Mountaineers open their 2016 season at defending National Champion and No. 2-ranked Penn State on Friday, Aug. 19, at 7:30 p.m., at Jeffrey Field, in University Park, Pennsylvania. The match will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
