Aug. 30, 2011

A prototypical program player, Gophers senior Katie Roberts-Carlson personifies the mission of the Minnesota Soccer Champion Development Program, which prides itself on developing successful players and people better than anyone in the nation.

"Katie has been an example of loyalty and dedication to the Minnesota soccer program," said head coach Mikki Denney Wright. "She has defined what it means to be a team player for our program."

Roberts-Carlson came into Gopher Soccer in the fall of 2007 after an impressive high school career that encompassed a pair of All-State honors in 2005 and 2006 along with two runner-up finishes at the State Cup in the same years. The redshirt-senior goalkeeper joined Gopher Soccer with a class of players that helped bring Minnesota back to the top of the Big Ten with a conference championship in 2008 - just their second year with the program.

During her tenure with the program, the Apple Valley, Minn. has played in three matches since joining in 2007. Roberts-Carlson was put in goal versus South Dakota (2009), Belmont (2010) and got some action versus South Dakota State this season. In those three matches, the senior has only been tested twice with each resulting in a save.

Off the field, Roberts-Carlson's training and academic development (she was named to the 2010 Academic All-Big Ten team) have set the standard for younger players on the team while her leadership helps the Gophers act more as a family than as a team.

"Her teammates respect her passion for Gopher Soccer, and we are grateful for her work building our soccer family. Katie has been committed to her overall development and has shown great growth as a person, student, and player.

Roberts-Carlson currently is pursuing her Master's degree in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Special Education. With the end of her college career slowly approaching, a new branch of her life just began this past summer when she got married and added Greg Carlson to the Gopher Soccer family.

"We have enjoyed coaching Katie and we are excited to watch her success in the future. We are grateful that Katie decided to be a Gopher!"