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The Indiana Daily Student

sports women's soccer

Velasquez named to Colombian National Team

IU women’s soccer standout Orianica Velasquez has been named to the Colombian National Team and will become the first IU women’s soccer player to compete in an Olympics.

Velasquez, a native of Bogotá, Colombia, was one of 18 players selected to represent Colombia in the 2012 London Olympics.

She will be a senior this fall semester. 

“I am thrilled to have been able to coach and continue to coach someone that has played in the World Cup and now has the opportunity to represent her home country in the Olympics in London,” IU Head Coach Mick Lyon said. “Ori is a very special player and person, and to have that caliber of player at Indiana University is what it is all about. This has been a dream of hers from the very beginning, and now she will be able to make it come true.”

To prepare for the Olympics, the Colombian national team is scheduled to play four exhibition matches at various sites in Switzerland.

Those exhibitions include matches against  Canada (July 9), Cameroon (July 11), Brazil (July 14) and New Zealand (July 17).

At the Olympics, Colombia will compete in Group G against France, North Korea and the United States.

Colombia’s first Olympic match is against North Korea at 4:45 p.m. July 25  in Glasgow, Scotland. The team will then play the U.S. on July 28 and France on July 31. 

In 2012, Velasquez  led the Hoosiers in points (16) and goals (7) and was tied for team lead in assists (2).

Velasquez helped Colombia to an appearance in the World Cup last summer. Against North Korea on July 6, 2011, she was named FIFA Player of the Match. 

That match ended in a scoreless draw, but Colombia earned its first ever World Cup point.

Velasquez has 19 goals and eight assists through her first three seasons as a Hoosier.

Heading into the 2013 season, Velasquez can move up the all-time IU women’s soccer leader board in several categories. In program history, she is seventh in points (46), fifth in goals (19) and third in shots (198).

--Joe Popely

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