In her first season as a starter in the Cougar soccer program, red shirt freshman goalkeeper Gurveen Clair’s performances are making a statement in Pac-12 soccer.

Coming out of Surrey, British Columbia, Clair showed much success in her high school and club years that created an extensive resume of awards for her performances.

Clair was her team’s MVP during her sophomore, junior and senior years at Fleetwood Park Secondary High School and took part in capturing the 2009 and 2010 Pacific Coast Soccer League titles on her club team, the Vancouver Whitecaps.

“I had a couple of really key coaches growing up,” Clair said. "They were really influential that took an interest in me and took the time to help me get to where they saw potential taking me.”

On top of her high school and club teams'success, her skills landed her a spot on the British Columbia team that won the gold medal at the 2009 Canada Games as well as participating in the Canadian National Team Camp in Italy during 2010, which brought interest to the WSU coaching staff.

“What brought me here was the coaching staff being nice in their recruiting,” Clair said. “They weren’t too pushy but they definitely showed that they were interested. When I came on my visit the girls were really nice, I loved the campus, and the college town. It’s just a great place to be.”

During the 2010 season Clair was a red shirt for the Cougars and won a gold medal as a member of the same Canadian team that earned the CONCACAF title in the World Cup qualifying.

As the main starter this season, she has helped the Cougars compete with the best teams in the country by logging in 54 saves and three shutouts and allowing only nine goals, putting her average at a .857 save percentage.

Much of Clair’s coaching comes from assistant coach Graeme Abel making minor adjustments each week to improve her game.

“That’s one thing I love about Graeme,” Clair said. “He’s not trying to change who we’ve grown up in the type of player we are, he tweaks it to make the way we play the most beneficial.”

Earlier this season Clair landed in the No. 5 spot on the all-time WSU single match list, registering 12 saves against Santa Clara and logged eight saves against No. 1 Stanford.

“I think Gurveen has played very well first and foremost,” Head Coach Matt Potter said. “That number one speaks to her attitude and training and she is an obvious highlight in terms of our back four and our defense.”

Clair is majoring in sports management and hopes to represent Canada in the U-20 World Cup next Fall.