Villanova Univeristy Athletics

Villanova women’s soccer was only in its third season as a varsity sport when Ann Beirne arrived on campus in the Fall of 1985. She became one of several players who were instrumental in the growth of the program in its early years and was the Wildcats first NSCAA All-American her senior year. Beirne played for Villanova from 1985-88 and was inducted to the Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 2009.
 
Among the notable firsts that Beirne achieved were being named a second team All-American for the 1988 season and earning three consecutive first team NSCAA All-Northeast Region accolades from 1986-88. At the time of her Hall of Fame induction more than 20 years later, Beirne was still the program’s only player to be a first team all-region honoree as many as three times. The feat is especially impressive considering that Beirne overlapped for one or more seasons with four of the first six women’s soccer players inducted to the Varsity Club Hall of Fame.
 
Beirne helped lead Villanova to a 42-22-10 (.635) record during her collegiate career. She played the same seasons as fellow Hall of Famer Jean Hajjar, a 2011 inductee. Beirne’s collegiate totals included 25 goals, 11 assists and 61 points. At the time of her graduation, she was ranked fourth in school history in both goals and points. She remained in the top-10 of the career goals list when she was inducted to the Hall of Fame.
 
As a freshman, Beirne played alongside Hall of Famers Cathy Ford (1982-85) and Ann Brennan (1983-86) who were each members of the Wildcats inaugural varsity women’s soccer squad in 1983. She and Hajjar would in a way pass the torch on to the next generation, as future Hall of Famer Tina Conti was a freshman on the 1988 team when Beirne and Hajjar were seniors.
 
Playing for head coach Don Paxson in the days before the BIG EAST sponsored women’s soccer as a conference sport, the Wildcats tallied 10+ wins in each of Beirne’s first three seasons. That included Villanova going 10-5-1 her first year and improving that mark to 12-4-3 for the 1986 season. The 1987 team won 13 games (13-6-2), setting a program record for single-season victories which would last for 12 years. The memorable campaign included the first postseason tournament title for Villanova women’s soccer.
 
Beirne was named the MVP of the ECAC Tournament in 1987 after totaling a goal and two assists in wins over Monmouth and Hartford. It marked the third appearance in five years for the Wildcats in the ECAC Tournament but the first championship after the 1983 and 1984 squads had been a combined 1-3 in tournament play. The 1987 edition of the tournament was hosted at Hartford and came down to a championship game between Villanova and the host Hawks after the Wildcats tallied a 3-0 win over Monmouth.
 
On November 7, 1987 the clash between Villanova and Hartford was an instant classic and the only triple overtime affair in Wildcats history. The score was knotted at 2-2 following regulation and two overtime periods before Villanova freshman Beth McMahon scored the latest game-winning goal in program history with a tally in the 121^st minute.
 
Beirne was the third women’s soccer player inducted to the Varsity Club Hall of Fame when she was part of the 2009 induction class, following her one-time teammates Ford (2001) and Brennan (2007).