W&M's Abby Lauer earns Third-Team Academic All-American honors

Senior back Abby Lauer (Oak Hill, Va.) became the eighth Academic All-American in the history of William and Mary women's soccer Tuesday, after she was selected as a third-team honoree by CoSIDA and ESPN The Magazine. She is the first Tribe player to be named Academic All-American since teammate Anna Young '07 was a first-team selection in 2006.

Lauer finished her career over the weekend by leading W&M to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season. Friday, the senior assisted on each of the team's first two goals as the College rallied to defeat South Carolina 3-2 in overtime, giving her a career-high nine assists in 2008. Lauer finished with 20 assists total in her four years, tying her for eighth all-time at W&M, and also had two goals, one coming earlier this season on a free-kick against Brigham Young.

Only the third W&M player to have started every match in a four-year career, Lauer ranks seventh in program history in matches started (86) and tied for eighth in matches played. In 2008, she was never taken off the pitch, logging a record 2,139 minutes, 14 seconds of playing time.