Justina Gaynor Named to United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Midfielders to Watch List
8/11/2023 12:10:00 PM | Women's Soccer
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State senior midfielder Justina Gaynor has been named a Division I Midfielder to Watch by the United Soccer Coaches, the organization announced Friday.Â
Gaynor is one of 38 players to make the list and joins Meg Boade (Northwestern) and Emma Jaskaniec as one of three Big Ten representatives. Spartan graduate defender Raegan Cox was named to the Defenders to Watch list earlier this week.Â
The United Soccer Coaches Players to Watch lists are compiled and released by the Division I All-America Committees to promote college soccer leading up to the official start date for the regular season later this month. The lists include United Soccer Coaches All-Americans and first or second team All-Region players from 2022 who are scheduled to return for the 2023 season.Â
Gaynor, a 2022 United Soccer Coaches All-North Region Second Team honoree, appeared and started in all 23 games for the Spartans last season. She totaled 10 points split between four goals and two assists, the fourth-best point total on the team in 2022 and second-best among 2023 returners. Gaynor also played the second-most minutes among Spartan fielders in 2022 with 1,708.Â
The Shelby Township, Michigan, native was a First-Team All-Big Ten selection in 2022 and earned a pair of National Team of the Week honors last season, collecting TopDrawerSoccer and College Soccer News honors on Sept. 27 and Nov. 15, respectively.Â
A standout in the classroom, Gaynor was named a United Soccer Coaches Third-Team Scholar All-American in 2022 and took home College Sports Communicators Academic All-District, Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and Academic All-Big Ten honors.Â
The Spartans continue exhibition action on Saturday, August 12 at Loyola Chicago at 1 p.m. ET. MSU opens the regular season at home against Cincinnati on Thursday, August 17, with kickoff at DeMartin Stadium set for 7:30 p.m.  Â
