DAYTON – University of Dayton women's soccer head coach
Eric Golz announced that
Alicia Donley, of Pickerington, Ohio, will join the Flyers as a mid-year transfer from the University of Tennessee.
"We are very excited to bring Alicia back home to Ohio and add her to our Flyer soccer family. She is young woman of great character and faith, a tremendous student, and a gifted soccer player," said Golz. "She is a dynamic forward that will fit in quite well with our style of play and prove to be a handful for opposing teams. She brings a great mindset, a gifted skill set and invaluable collegiate experience from her time at Tennessee.
"She is a great addition to our program, and will be another exciting player to watch in a Flyer uniform!"
In a shortened 2020 fall season, Donley played in all nine matches, with six starts for the Vols. She registered one goal and was third on the team in shots on goal. She scored in UT's 2-1 victory over Missouri.
As a freshman, she made 11 appearances as a key reserve before her season was cut short due to injury. She was tied for second on the team with three goals during her rookie campaign. Donley was a mid-year enrollee and began training with the Vols in the spring of 2019.
She will begin play for the Flyers this spring as a sophomore.
Donley, a two-time United Soccer Coaches High School All-American, played her high school soccer not far from Dayton at Pickerington North, scoring 67 goals in three years. She was a three-time First Team All-State selection (2015, 17, 18) and was named back-to-back Central District and OCC Ohio Division Player of the Year (2017-18). Donley was also chose to play in the 2018 TopDrawerSoccer High School All-America Game.
She played club soccer for Ohio Premier ECNL, which finished as the national runner-up in 2018 and made the quarterfinals in 2017.
Donley also lettered in swimming and track in high school, capturing two state titles in the 2x200 freestyle relay as well as a state championship in the 4x400m relay in a school-record time of 3:54. She was selected as an All-American four different times in swimming.
