Lauren Lopez

Classroom

Lopez holds a 3.94 cumulative grade point average, including perfect 4.0 marks both semesters of the 2008-09 school year. Majoring in art with a concentration in painting, Lopez has made the Dean’s List and the Chancellor’s List in each of her six semesters thus far. She is on track to graduate in December 2010, as specific painting classes needed are only offered in the fall 2010 semester. She earned Academic All-Southern Conference recognition in 2007 and 2008 and NSCAA Scholar All-South Region third team status in 2008. She was inducted into UNC Greensboro’s prestigious Golden Chain Honor Society in 2008 (signifying excellence in leadership, scholarship, service, tolerance, judgment, magnanimity and character). She earned the Aaron Bobb Scholarship, awarded to the UNCG student-athlete with the highest grade point average. After graduating, she plans to get a master’s degree in art and wishes to be a college art professor. She intends to stay involved in soccer, playing and/or coaching on some level.

Character

Lopez will be a team captain in 2009, and has always had a leadership role within the team. She has overcome several obstacles to excel in the classroom and on the field, including tearing her ACL in her first college soccer game and being diagnosed with Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes just a week later. Dealing with diabetes is a daily struggle that includes taking a minimum of four insulin shots a day in order to regulate her blood sugars. Type 1 diabetes is a chronic disease that, if not taken care of, can eventually cause vision impairment, loss of limbs, and damage to the heart, kidneys and brain. “Being a freshman in college is a hard enough transition in itself, but doing so recovering from ACL reconstruction on my knee and getting used to my new life with diabetes made the experience one of the hardest of my life,” Lopez said. She has dealt with the disease well, maintained healthy blood sugars, and has not let it adversely affect her collegiate experience on or off the field.

Community

Lopez has participated in UNCG’s Relay for Life with the rest of the women’s soccer team in each of her three years on the team, raising funds and walking in the event. She has also volunteered with the team at the Greensboro Youth Soccer Association’s First Timers Clinic, coaching and working with children ages 4-6. Lopez has also been involved with the Fox 8 Gift for Kids campaign, in which gifts for needy children are collected at UNCG sporting events and UNCG student-athletes donate their time at the Fox 8 Gifts for Kids warehouse assisting in the distribution of the gifts collected. She is also a member of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Competition

Lopez is a three-year starter and a two-time All-Southern Conference performer, taking first team honors as a junior in 2008 after earning a spot on the second team in 2007. She was named to the Soccer Buzz All-Southeast Region third team and the Southern Conference All-Tournament team in 2008. She was sixth on the team in scoring in 2008 with 11 points on three goals and five assists, all career highs. She was also part of a defense that posted 11 shutouts and a 0.79 goals against average in 2008 (16-4-3 overall record, 10-0-1 SoCon). She has won three Southern Conference regular-season championships and has yet to lose a SoCon regular-season game in her career, going 29-0-2 in her three years on the squad. UNCG is 45-17-6 overall in her career, with a pair of NCAA tournament appearances.