Legg Named D3soccer.com Defensive Player of the Year

(PITTSBURGH, Pa.) – Carnegie Mellon University women's soccer senior Rachel Legg has been named the 2023 D3soocer.com Defensive Player of the Year and All-American.

Legg, who was named the University Athletic Association (UAA) Women's Soccer Defensive Player of the Year and Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Defensive Player of the Year, is the first Tartan to earn a Player of the Year honor by D3soccer.com.

Legg started every game for the Tartans this season, leading the team in minutes played with 1,562. As a center back for the team, Legg was integral in the team's 11 shutouts and 0.74 goals against average. For the second time in three NCAA tournament appearances, the Tartans earned two shutouts in first and second-round play, with Legg being the anchor of both defensive efforts.

Legg's leadership on the backline led to an opponent's shot average of 6.2 a game with just 2.7 shots on goal per game which ranked 13th (tie) and 8th (tie) nationally. The D3soccer.com release mentions those numbers are even more impressive given Carnegie Mellon played one of the toughest schedules in Division III. Among teams with Strength-of-Schedules over .600, the Tartan defense allowed the fewest shots per game and second fewest shots on target per outing. After a season-opening road loss to William Smith, Legg and company went on a 14-game unbeaten streak that included four 1-0 shutout victories in the tough UAA.

Legg was also named to the United Soccer Coaches All-America Second Team after garnering United Soccer Coaches All-Region IV honors for the second time, this year earning a first-team selection after bringing in a third-team honor as a freshman.

Legg is the seventh Tartans to earn All-America recognition from D3soccer.com, the first to be named to the first team, and the fourth defender.