Tenacious defensive midfielder who made big strides in the 2004 spring and fall seasons before ankle injury held her out for the 2005 spring and summer ... returned to her role as top defensive midfield reserve in 2005, when she appeared in 17 games and made four starts ... shows composure when under pressure on the ball ... hard-nosed tackler who excels at winning possession ... makes good decisions from the holding midfielder spot ... has made key improvements in her pace of play during her career ... combined with former Notre Dame defender Kari Kennedy and current sophomore forward Kerri Hanks on Dallas Texans '85 club team that won 2003 USYS under-18 national title ... also teamed with Kennedy and Notre Dame classmate Lizzie Reed on Texans squad that won 2004 state cup and reached under-19 regional final (Georgia-based Phoenix advanced, on PKs) ... joins junior goalkeeper Lauren Karas (Flower Mound HS), Hanks (Allen HS), sophomore midfielder Becca Mendoza (North Garland HS) and freshman defenders Haley Ford (Midland HS) and Ashley Galovic (Plano East HS) among 19 Texas natives to play for the Notre Dame women's soccer program, with others including 1990 captain Bernie Holland (a fellow Dallas native and Ursuline Academy product), early-1990s forward Stephanie Porter (Spring/Klein HS), steady defender Tiffany Thompson (Houston/Cypress Creek), All-America/Academic All-America defender Monica Gonzalez (Richardson/Plano East), big-game goalkeeper Liz Wagner (Spring/Klein) and clutch goalscorer Amanda Guertin (Grapevine HS) ... previous Notre Dame players to wear No. 21 include midfielder Jodi Hartwig ('95) ... could face several former teammates in 2006 season, including six from SMU - Alyssa Pembroke, Olivia O'Rear and Ashley Watson (each from the Texans) and former Ursuline Academy players Jennifer Raad and Gillian and Morgan Field - plus TCU's Karissa Hill and Lauren Pope (Texans) and Ashley Pierret and Courtney Johnson (Ursuline), and Cincinnati's Rachael Epps (Texans) ... enters senior year with 3.56 cumulative grade-point average, including a 3.73 in the 2005 spring semester.

AS A JUNIOR: Appeared in 17 games (4 starts) as part of elite midfield that dominated possession all season (with a 572-124 edge in total shots) ... gained postseason experience in BIG EAST quarterfinal versus Georgetown (6-1; 21 minutes), 5-0 BIG EAST title-game win over #15 Connecticut the 6-0 NCAA opener with Valparaiso (22 min.) and the NCAA third-round game with #22 Yale (5-2) ... also played in 6-0 win over #25 Maryland (30 minutes), 3-0 win at Louisville (21), 4-0 victory over #10 Connecticut and 4-0 game with Villanova.

AS A SOPHOMORE: Key reserve in defensive midfielder role, appearing in 13 games for 2004 national champs ... drew start and logged 45 minutes during home-state game at Texas Tech (3-0) ... played in early games versus Baylor (7-2) and Eastern Illinois (3-0) ... helped beat 4th-ranked Santa Clara at ND Classic (5-2) ... played in hard-fought win at Syracuse (2-1) ... matched season-high with 45 minutes of action versus Wisconsin-Green Bay (4-0) ... earned postseason experience in BIG EAST Tournament wins over St. John's (7-0) and Boston College (2-0) and 42-minute stint during NCAA victory over Eastern Illinois (4-0) ... had three assists on preseason trip to Brazil, as Irish went 5-0-1 versus top semi-pro teams.

AS A FRESHMAN: Appeared in six games as member of deep midfield unit ... saw action in 1-0 victory at Pittsburgh, rating as one of team's top players in that road win ... scored in 2004 spring game versus Western Michigan (4-1).

PREP & PERSONAL: Four-year starting defender at Ursuline Academy ... twice earned all-state and all-state tournament honors, three times all-district ... helped set school record with 111-game unbeaten streak (nationally-ranked with four state titles) ... senior team captain ... received 2000-01 Gift of Fury award ... member of defense that was voted best in Dallas area three times ... played for Susan Ellis, who later coached WUSA's Carolina Courage ... center midfielder on '97-'03 Dallas Texans, helping win 2003 USYS under-18 national title (in Germantown, Md.) with Texans '85 team (also won six North Texas titles and regional crowns in '99, '00 and '03) ... the Texans won '03 nationals after 1-1 ties in round-robin versus Colorado Soccer Academy and Bethesda (Md.) Dragons and 3-0 win over Minn.-based Tsunami Sota before 2-0 title win over Tsunami ... played for Solar Soccer Club in '95-'97 ... member of National Honor Society (3.98 GPA) ... represented Texas at 2002 National Young Leaders Conference (Washington, D.C.) ... served as English tutor for Sudanese refugees ... other Dallas products to monogram with Notre Dame teams include 1987 Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown (Wilson HS), football linemen Dave ('78) and Tim ('81) Huffman (Jefferson HS) and defensive back Allen Rossum (`98; Skyline HS), and three men's soccer players: defender and recent Monogram Club board member Marvin Lett ('87; Carter HS), goalkeeper Bert Bader ('95; White HS) and midfielder Dustin Pridmore ('01; Jesuit) ... daughter of Jake and Lisa Gallerano ... full name is Claire Elise Gallerano ... born Nov. 15, 1984, in Dallas ... an American studies major, in the College of Arts and Letters.

Gallerano's Career Statistics

Year	GP-GS	Sh	G	A	Pts	GW
2003	6/0	2	0	0	0	0
2004	13/1	5	0	0	0	0
2005	17/4	6	0	0	0	0
Totals	36/5	13	0	0	0	0