University of Richmond Athletics
Soccer Newcomer Named Delaware Gatorade Player of the Year
05/27/2016 | Women's Soccer
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – The University of Richmond women's soccer team is looking forward to an exciting and healthy 2016 season, and its newcomers will play a large role in its success.
One of those newcomers looking to make a statement on the field is incoming freshman Brooke Beam, who was recently named the Delaware Gatorade Player of the Year, as well as an NSCAA Regional All-American.
Beam will join fellow Delaware native, Lexi Prillaman, who also won Player of the Year honors twice while at Caesar Rodney.
“Brooke has an array of attacking skills, and we expect her to make big contributions to our offense immediately,” head coach Peter Albright said.
A native of Fenwick Island, Beam is a four-year varsity starter at Indian River High, where she earned team MVP and first team All-Henlopen Conference honors all four seasons. The standout player also earned All-State honors each year, making the third team as a freshman, second team as a sophomore and first team as a junior and senior.
Though Beam has a stellar high school career all around, she broke out in her junior and senior seasons as a team captain, making the Delaware Top XI Team both years. The standout wrapped up her career by becoming the first player at Indian River, male or female, to score 100 career goals.
Overall, Beam led Indian River to Southern Division titles in her final three seasons, a Henlopen Conference title as a sophomore and the Division II State Finals as a junior.
Beam competed for FC Philadelphia 97/98 Black at the club level, helping her team reach a ranking as high as No. 6 in the country. Her team also ranked first in Pennsylvania and fourth in the region. Like most elite level players, Beam also competed in the Olympic Development Program, where she played on the Region One team from 2010 to 2014 and traveled on the Region One International Trip to Italy, France and Switzerland in 2015.
Off the field, Beam also competed on the cross country team as a junior and senior, earning All-Henlopen Conference Honorable Mention honors as a junior. She was also a member of TOP Soccer Buddy, an outreach program that works with athletes with disabilities, Fenwick Island Beach cleanups and her church youth group while serving as a River Soccer Club volunteer coach and referee.
Academically, Beam was named to the High Honor Roll all four years at Indian River, finishing her career with a 4.5 GPA. She was a member of the National Honor Society and Academic All-Conference for every sport season, and was named the recipient of the Superintendent's Award for Academic Excellence and the Superior Academic Achievement Award.
