Lightning announces signings of four Gopher players

Published on May 15, 2006 under USL First Division (USL-1)
Minnesota Thunder News Release


ST. PAUL, Minn. (Monday, May 15, 2006)- The Minnesota Lightning announced today four more players who have signed for the new premier women's W-League soccer team. Kelsey Hood, Molly Schneider, Lindsey Schwartz and Kaitlin Wagner are all Minnesota Gophers players who will join the Lightning in the inaugural season.

Hood hails from Ankeny, Iowa and graduated from Ankeny High School in 2005, playing club soccer for Ankeny Premier. She was a member of the Region II team from 2000 to 2004 and was invited to the exclusive ESP National Camp in both 2002 and 2003.

A Soccer Buzz Top-100 national recruit, Hood was recently named to the 2005 Big Ten All-Freshmen team. For the Gophers, she started in 18 games in midfield, scoring one goal and adding two assits.

Schneider is a Rochester, Minn. native who graduated from Century High School in 2002. At Century, she started in goal for four years, where she was a four-time All-Conference honoree and 2001 All-State selection. In club soccer, Schneider competed with MYSA's St. Paul Blackhawks.

Schneider recently completed her senior season at Minnesota, where she started every game and helped lead the Gophers to their best record since the 1999 season. She was named First Team All-Big Ten and led the conference in saves (114) and was second in goals against average (0.84).

Schneider also competed with the W-League Chicago Cobras in 2003 and 2004, where she was the starting goalkeeper and helped lead the Cobras to the W-League Final Four in both seasons.

Schwartz is from Bettendorf, Iowa and a 2005 graduate of Pleasant Valley High School. As a senior at Pleasant Valley, Schwartz led her team with 25 goals and 12 assists in being named the Iowa Player of the Year. She played club soccer in Iowa for the BSA Tornadoes and Heartland U-17, and was a member of the Iowa ODP team from 1998- 2004.

As a freshman at Minnesota, Schwartz started all 19 games at forward. She led the team with six goals and five assists for a team-high 17 points, and was named Team Offensive MVP.

Wagner established herself as one of the best players in the state while at Wayzata High School, where she helped lead the Trojans to four consecutive state tournament appearances from 2001-2004. As a senior, she was ranked one of the top five players in Minnesota, while also earning All-State honors. Wagner played club soccer with the St. Croix Elite, and competed for the Minnesota ODP team for three years.

Wagner joined Hood and Schwartz as freshmen on last season's Minnesota team, where she started 17 games in midfield and was named Team Midfield MVP. She scored two goals, including the game-winner that helped the Gophers beat Wisconsin 1-0 in overtime.

The Lightning will begin play on Saturday, May 27 at 5:05 p.m. when they host the London Gryphons at the National Sports Center in Blaine. The game is the first of a doubleheader, with the Minnesota Thunder scheduled to face the Portland Timbers at 7:35 p.m. Admission to both games is granted with the purchase of a Thunder ticket. For ticket information, visit www.mnthunder.com or call 651.917.TEAM.


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