Sports Illustrated Honors Ashlyn Harris, Women’s World Cup Team With Individual Covers
By Space Coast Daily // July 14, 2015
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED – In celebration of the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team winning the World Cup, Sports Illustrated gave each player and coach their own shot on the cover, including Satellite Beach native Ashlyn Harris.
The team just became the first ever to win three Women’s World Cups when they beat Japan 5-2 in the championship game.
Check out all of the SI covers here.
Ashlyn Harris was inducted into the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in May 2012. Following is her Hall of Fame Tribute:
• Parade Prep Player of the Year
• 3 NCAA Championships
• Women’s Pro Soccer Champion
PARADE MAGAZINE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Ashlyn Harris lead Satellite High to the Class 3A state titles in 2002 and 2003 under coach Fitzgerald Haig during her sophomore and junior seasons.
In 2002, the Scorpions defeated Plant City Durant 2-0 in the semifinals and St. Thomas Aquinas 5-4 in a penalty-kick shootout after the teams finished regulation and overtime tied 0-0. In 2003, Satellite edged Pensacola 1-0 in the state semifinals before edging St. Thomas Aquinas on penalty kicks.
Harris, who was born on Oct. 19, 1985, was a Parade Magazine All-America in each of her four years of high school.
During her senior year, she was the Parade magazine Player of the Year, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Player of the Year and the Gatorade National Girls’ Soccer Player of the Year.
NCAA CHAMPION
ABOVE VIDEO: Ashlyn Harris was inducted into the Space Coast Sports Hall of Fame in May 2012.
As a senior at the University of North Carolina in the fall of 2009, Harris helped the Tar Heels win their 20th NCAA title in the 28-year history of the NCAA Tournament.
She posted a shutout as North Carolina blanked Stanford 1-0 in the final. Harris also posted a shutout in the NCAA semifinals when the Tar Heels defeated Notre Dame 1-0.
The NCAA title was the third for a group of nine North Carolina seniors – Harris, Ashley Moore, Heath, Sterling Smith, Nikki Washington, Caroline Boneparth, Whitney Engen, Casey Nogueira and Kristi Eveland – who also played for championship teams in 2006 and 2008.
In 2005, Harris tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee during her first practice with North Carolina and was forced to redshirt. That next summer, she tore her ACL again.
She returned for the final six regular-season games and played during the second half of NCAA Tournament victories against North Carolina-Asheville, Navy, Tennesse, Texas A&M, UCLA and Notre Dame as the Tar Heels won the Women’s College Cup.
The 5-foot-9 Harris was named to the 2009 Women’s College Cup All-Tournament Team. She was third in the nation with a goals against average of 0.416.
She posted 12 solo shutouts, allowing only 10 goals in 2,163 minutes. North Carolina, which finished with an overall record of 23-3-1, won its final 11 matches. In the 2008 NCAA Championship Game, Harris played the first half of the Tar Heels’ 2-0 victory against Notre Dame.
Harris did not join North Carolina for the 2004 season because she was playing for the U.S. Under-19 National Team in the 2004 FIFA Under-19 Women’s World Championships in Thailand.
The squad won five of its six matches, as she finished her Under-19 career with 39 caps. In the 2002 FIFA Under-19 Women’s World Championship,
Harris was the goalkeeper as the U.S. defeated Canada 1-0 in overtime to win before 47,784 hostile fans at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton.
The U.S. won each of its six matches, outscoring the opposition 26-2 in the inaugural event. Harris was the youngest starter on the squad. Harris is currently one of four goalies in the U.S. player pool.
WOMEN’S PROFESSIONAL SOCCER
As the starting goalie for the Western New York Flash last summer, Harris helped the expansion Flash win the Women’s Professional Soccer championship.
In the 2011 WPS championship match against the Philadelphia Independence, Harris stopped Laura del Rio’s penalty kick in a shootout to help Western New York cap a season to remember.
Western New York finished the regular season with a 13-2-3 record as Harris had a goals against average of 1.0 and was named the 2011 Coast Guard Goalkeeper of the Year.
THE SPACE COAST SPORTS HALL OF FAME Committee is now accepting nominations for the Class of 2016. FOR INFORMATION call 321-615-8111 or e-mail MaverickMultimedia@gmail.com
