BATON ROUGE – LSU Soccer’s senior team captain Natalia Gomez-Junco is set to compete with the Mexican Women’s National Team at the Four Nations Tournament beginning next week in Shenzhen, China, as the country prepares for the Olympic Qualifying CONCACAF Women’s Championship coming up in February.
Gomez-Junco is among 24 of her fellow compatriots called into action by Leonardo Cuellar as they will compete in the tournament from Jan. 16-28 against the likes of China, South Korea and Vietnam.
The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro are fast approaching this summer as the Mexican Women’s National Team will soon embark on its qualifying campaign at the Olympic Qualifying Women’s Championship to be held in Texas from Feb. 10-21 to determine the Olympics representatives from the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football.
A native of Monterrey, Mexico, Gomez-Junco makes her return to the Mexican Women’s National Team after being capped twice by her country at the senior level at the 2013 Algarve Cup in Portugal where she was a starter against Wales and substitute against Portugal in her first taste of senior international football at the highest level.
One of LSU’s two team captains this fall, Gomez-Junco enjoyed a decorated senior season on the field in 2015 while leading the Tigers back into postseason play with a run to the SEC Tournament semifinals and a fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in the program’s history this fall. The Tigers posted a 13-6-4 overall record with a 5-4-2 mark and 17 points for seventh place in SEC play this season.
Gomez-Junco was certainly a catalyst on the field as she wrapped up her career as a First-Team All-South Region performer by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America in November. She was also selected a member of the SEC All-Tournament Team while helping the Tigers reach the SEC Tournament semifinals in Orange Beach, while also being honored as an SEC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 21 and a member of the TopDrawerSoccer.com Women’s National Team of the Week on Sept. 22 for her efforts during the season.
Gomez-Junco has even been recognized for her performance in both the classroom and in the community this fall as she was also a member of the SEC Community Service Team as a leader of LSU’s community service efforts throughout the 2015 season and an NSCAA NCAA Division I Women’s Scholar All-District Second Team selection following the campaign.
A December graduate in civil engineering, Gomez-Junco scored five goals and dished out a team-leading seven assists for 17 points as one of the top-scoring Tigers this fall, while also finishing her career with nine goals and 11 assists in two seasons at LSU.