Elon WSOC Doherty Earns Northern Ireland Call-Up for 2019 World Cup Qualifying Match

ELON, N.C. – Northern Ireland Women’s National Team head coach Alfie Wylie has named Elon University women’s soccer midfielder Hannah Doherty to the 18-player roster for Northern Ireland’s third match of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualifying campaign.

Northern Ireland faces Slovakia in its third match of the Group Stage on Tuesday, Nov. 28, at Štadión MŠK Žilina in Zilina, Slovakia. The match will kick off at 11:30 a.m. eastern time and at 5:30 p.m. local time in Slovakia. Doherty becomes the Elon women’s soccer program’s first player to be named to a full senior national team roster. This is the second time in her career she has represented Northern Ireland in World Cup qualifying as she was called up to the first team for the 2015 qualifiers.

“I am honored to be part for the squad for the Slovakia game,” said Doherty. “I have been working hard to get my chance and I’m excited to meet up with the team on Wednesday.”

Northern Ireland is currently fourth in Group 3 of Europe’s qualifying groups. The winner of each of the seven groups will advance to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Doherty

“I am very excited for Hannah,” said Elon women’s soccer head coach Chris Neal. “She has worked very hard and has developed tremendously since arriving to Elon in August of 2016. During the recruiting process we spoke about this moment as being one of her career aspirations. It’s amazing that this moment is happening for her now. Representing the full Northern Irish national team in a World Cup qualifier is a tremendous honor. Hannah’s entire Elon team is so proud of her and we wish her and the Northern Ireland squad much success on their road to World Cup qualification.”

Doherty made an immediate impact for the Phoenix in her first full season with the maroon and gold. She was named to the CAA All-Rookie team after tallying seven total points on two goals and three assists. Doherty scored a game-winning goal for the Phoenix in a 2-1 victory at Richmond on Sept. 7 and scored a goal and had two assists during conference play.

Doherty’s first experience with the Northern Ireland national team was during the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers. She competed in home and away Group 4 European qualifying fixtures against Sweden, Scotland, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Faroe Islands. Doherty made her senior international debut at the age of 15, in an away fixture to Holland.

Additionally, she was also a member of the Northern Ireland U19 and U17 national teams. She also competed in 2016 European Championship qualifiers in Macedonia, helping the team finish second in the group and qualify for the elite rounds in Demark. She was also a team captain and a member of the Northern Ireland U17 national team that competed in the European Championship Qualifiers and Elite Rounds defeating Italy and Israel and drawing with England to finish top of the qualifying group in 2015.