The Pennant is celebrating 50 years of Title IX and Kingsmen Girls Sports by showcasing some of the top female athletes in Penn Athletics History. The athletes featured were selected by coaches and Athletic administrators.
By ANDREW HOCHSTETTLER
Brooke VanDyck helped Penn win two State Championships in Soccer. She went on to play for the University of Notre Dame.
NAME: Brooke VanDyck
SPORT: Women’s Soccer
YEARS COMPETED (OR COACHED) AT PENN: 2016-2018
HIGH SCHOOL ACCOMPLISHMENTS/HONORS: State Champion runner up freshman year, State Champion sophomore year, State Champion junior year, 66-1-4 record and ending career on a 47-game unbeaten streak, named First Team All-State twice and a United Soccer Coaches High School All-American as a junior, two years a captain, Scored 29 goals and collected 41 assists (second-most assists in Penn High School history) in her three-year career, graduated in 3 years with academic honor roll.
COLLEGE/PRO ACCOMPLISHMENTS/HONORS: She played 4 years at the University of Notre Dame, as a freshman appeared in all 18 games and made 11 starts during her first season with the Irish, Had a breakout performance in the season opener, earning the start and scored the game-winning goal in the first half, Ranked #97 by TopDrawer Soccer in their Midseason Top-100 Freshman List.
Sophomore year:
Played in 18 games and made 11 starts in the midfield during her second season with the Irish.
- Tallied one goal, two assists, four points over 765 minutes played.
- Scored the third goal in Notre Dame’s 4-0 win at home over St. John’s.
- Her first assist of the season came on Eva Hurm’s second goal of the afternoon in the 4-0 home win over Northwestern.
- Had the assist on Autumn Smithers’ game-winning-goal in the 2-1 comeback win on the road over Western Michigan.
- VanDyck tallied a career-high 90 minutes in the road win over Western Michigan.
Junior year:
- Played in all 13 games and made six starts in her junior season.
- Finished the season with one goal, two assists and four points across 572 minutes played.
- Scored the opening goal in the 2-0 road win over Cincinnati (3/11).
- Assisted on Kiki Van Zanten’s second goal in the 2-0 road win over Miami (9/20).
- Assisted on Kiki Van Zanten’s opening goal in the 2-0 home win over Syracuse (10/4).
Senior:
On leadership council board
- Played in all 22 games with 16 starts. Logged over 1,136 minutes on the pitch
- Recorded goals in back-to-back games against Detroit Mercy and Brown
- Also recorded her lone assist against Detroit Mercy as well
- Registered 14 shots, including five on net
- Played over 60 minutes in all three NCAA Tournament games
- Member of the Rosenthal Leadership Academy, learning from other high performing student-athletes throughout the ND Athletics community
- Career-wise: six goals, six assists, 18 points. Also four career game-winners
Took a 5th year at Vanderbilt university to play one more year.
CAREER/CURRENT BACKGROUND/JOB:
Currently in graduate school at Vanderbilt. She will start a job at RSM accounting firm November 2023.
HOW DID ATHLETICS IMPACT YOUR LIFE?:
“It opened doors I never thought would be possible like attending the University of Notre Dame and Vanderbilt University. I gained invaluable life experience and learned life lessons that molded me into the person I am today. Along with that, the relationships I created with people throughout all the years I’ve played made soccer even more special.”
WHY ARE OPPORTUNITIES FORS ATHLETIC EXPERIENCES IMPORTANT FOR ALL STUDENTS?:
“Learning teamwork, passion, hard work, dealing with failure, creating relationships, the list goes on.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE CURRENT STATE OF FEMALE ATHLETICS? IS THERE STILL PROGRESS THAT NEEDS TO BE MADE? WHAT?
“There are still issues of inequality and discrimination within female sports, but I do think people are paying more attention and striving to better these problems. As a female athlete who has finished her career, I hope to continue to inspire young female athletes to be proud of who they are and the sport they play.”
