SAN ANTONIO (July 10, 2023) – Samantha Valadez of the Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) women's soccer program was selected to compete with the El Salvador National Football Team in the 2023 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games. The competition ran from June 29-July 7 in San Salvador.

Valadez commented, "It was an amazing experience to be part of the team and work with such passionate people. We practiced very hard for weeks until the tournament started, and we ended up in third place, which is the first time the major women's national team has placed. It's a beautiful country that is on the rise and I'm so grateful for the opportunity."

The Saints' goalkeeper is entering her junior year and played at Kingwood Park High School in Houston. She made 10 saves in 10 games last season for the Saints and posted 1.17 goals against average. Valadez attended try-outs for the El Salvador national team in February and was selected to the goalie squad along with Idalia Serrano. Serrano currently plays with the NCAA D1 Utah Valley Wolverines in Orem, Utah, and was in net for the CAC contests.

There were eight teams competing in the event and they split in two groups of four. The El Salvador team competed with Mexico, Puerto Rico and Jamaica in the preliminary matches. They went 1-1-1 for four points and advanced out of the group with Mexico, who took first place with an undefeated 3-0 mark. El Salvador fell to Venezuela 2-1 in the semifinals on July 5 but salvaged the third-place match over Centro Caribe Sports to earn the bronze medal. Full results and more infomation about the tournament can be found here.