NT Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 102, No. 30, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 1, 2014 Page: 6 of 12
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6 SPORTS
NORTH TEXAS DAILY
UNT soccer star heads to semi-pro team in Seattle
John Lugo
Sports Editor
ean Green soccer star
defender Kelsey Hodges
has signed a contract to
play this summer with the Se-
attle Sounders of the W-League,
a semi-professional soccer
league.
Hodges, a graduating senior,
will play her first game with the
Sounders May 16 against the
Vancouver Whitecaps as part of
the team’s preseason schedule.
The regular season schedule
runs through July 13 and the
playoffs through the end of July.
She sees playing at this level
as an opportunity to gain more
exposure and show that she’s
ready for the National Women’s
Soccer League, the largest
professional league in the U.S..
Though she didn’t receive a
paid contract, the team will
take care of her living expenses
while she’s in Seattle.
“It’ll be very different just
because the environment’s dif-
ferent,” said Hodges, who has
lived in Denton all her life. “I’ve
heard a lot of good things about
Seattle. I’m looking forward to
it.”
Among all-time placements
at UNT, Hodges ranks eighth in
career goals (32), sixth in game-
winning goals (10), fifth in starts
(84) and second in total minutes
among position players (7,174).
"One thing I
liked about her
is that you can
tell she's
leading by
example. She
can lead with
her voice."
-Huberf Busby Jr.
She also won conference cham-
pionships in 2011 and 2012,
including when she scored
the winning goal and blocked
a potentially game-tying goal
against the University of Denver
in the 2011 Sun Belt Conference
championship.
When she was in high school,
Hodges emphasized wanting to
go to a school outside of Denton
to experience a new city, but
now believes coming to UNT
was one of the best decisions
she’s made.
“It was such a great experi-
ence because I kind of had the
best of both worlds,” Hodges
said. “I was in my hometown
and playing the sport that I love,
and I got to wear the green jer-
sey I grew up watching [players
wear].”
Hodges said the opportunity
in Seattle opened up when
she received a call from Hu-
bert Busby Jr., head coach and
general manager of the Sound-
ers. He knew she wanted make
it to the NWSL, and after he
heard great things about her
from other coaches in the North
Texas area, he let her know that
the spot on his team was open
Senior defender Kelsey Hodges has been
signed, pending league approval, by the
Seattle Sounders Women to play profes-
sionally in 2014 for the W-League. Photo
by Zixian Chen, Senior Staff Photographer.
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Darnell, William A. NT Daily (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 102, No. 30, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 1, 2014, newspaper, May 1, 2014; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth635155/m1/6/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections.