2020-21 (SEASON PLAYED IN SPRING, 2021) / AS A JUNIOR
- Named to the All-Big Ten Third Team
- Big Ten Distinguished Scholar
- Academic All-Big Ten
- Played in and started 11 matches and had one assist with seven shots and two shots on goal in 1,002 minutes
- Played every minute of six matches and saw at least 78 minutes on the pitch in all 11 contests
- Had one shot on goal against Michigan State on March 21
- Registered an assist at Nebraska on March 8
- Posted two shots, one on goal, against Maryland on Feb. 25
2019 / AS A SOPHOMORE
- Academic All-Big Ten
- Started all 20 matches and had one goal, 11 shots and five shots on goal in 1,929 minutes
- Played at least 90 minutes in all but three matches
- Helped the defense post nine shutouts, Purdue’s most since 2007
- Played all 90 minutes of both matches in the Big Ten Tournament, including in a 1-0 shutout of top-seeded and No. 7-ranked Wisconsin on Nov. 3
- Scored Purdue’s first goal and had two shots as the Boilermakers kept the Golden Boot for a fifth consecutive season with a 2-1 win on Oct. 27
- Helped Purdue to a 1-0 shutout of No. 19 Iowa on Sept. 22
- Had shots on goal in three consecutive matches, including while holding Saint Louis and Nebraska scoreless on Sept. 15 and 20, respectively
2018 / AS A FRESHMAN
- Started and played in 17 games
- One of two freshman to start every game she appeared in
- Ranked second on the team with 1,589 minutes on the pitch
- Averaged 93.47 minutes per game, going the distance in 14 outings
- Helped to shutout four programs, including No. 25 Northwestern on the road, and held ranked opponents to just four goals total
- Fended off many attacks against No. 25 Northwestern in the 0-0 double-overtime draw while playing all 110 minutes.
- Went the distance in three of the Purdue’s four double-overtime matches
- Helped hold opponents to 20 goals on the season, the lowest mark in 10 years and fourth lowest since the program’s inception in 1998
HIGH SCHOOL
- Four-year varsity letterwinner for coach Allison Diaz at St. John’s College High School in Washington D.C.
- Also played for Bethesda SC ECNL, focusing on club as a junior
- Washington Catholic and DC Athletic Association champion as a senior
- Top Drawer Soccer state star as a senior after scoring 12 goals as a defender
- First team all-conference and all-metro performer as senior was a second time honoree as a sophomore
- St. John’s was ranked 13th nationally and invited to the Max Preps Tournament of champions in 2017
- Invited to ECNL national training camp in Portland, Oregon
- Helped St. John’s reach the DCSAA finals each of her underclassman seasons
- Honor roll student
- National Honor Society and Art Honors Society
PERSONAL
- Majoring in biology
- Parents are Jim and Marina Walsh
- Has a younger brother, Timothy
- Mother, Marina, was a rower at Cornell University
COACH ROFF SAYS
"Grace is a very talented center back with a high soccer IQ and great positional awareness. Her ability to read the game, and anticipate and react quickly, allows her to break up plays and shut down opponents consistently. Once she wins the ball, she is very comfortable playing out of pressure and connecting from the back. That composure and confidence on the ball provides a calming influence on the field, and will allow us to build from the back effectively. Grace brings all the qualities we look for in the center back role, including leadership potential. Her future is very bright."
