The family of the 22-year-old star soccer player who was found dead in her dorm room at Stanford University on Tuesday said they are ‘brokenhearted’ and not ready to ‘post anything big yet.’
Katie Meyer’s sister Sam Perez posted on her Instagram Stories honoring her sister, a goalkeeper for the women’s soccer team who majored in international relations and minored in history who was found dead in a residential building the day before.
‘There are no words,’ Perez wrote on Instagram. ‘Thank you for all the kindness extended to my family. I’m not ready to post anything big yet. We are broken-hearted and love Kat so much.’
Perez also shared a link to a GoFundMe page to help pay for Meyer’s memorial costs. It has raised almost $41,000 of it’s $60,000 goal in just two hours.
Katie Meyer’s sister Sam Perez (pictured together) posted on her Instagram Stories honoring her sister. ‘There are no words,’ Perez wrote on Instagram. ‘Thank you for all the kindness extended to my family. I’m not ready to post anything big yet. We are broken-hearted and love Kat so much’
Perez posted a tribute to her sister on her Instagram Stories (pictured)
She said they were honored by the ‘outpouring of support’ and directed others to help fund Meyer’s memorial service through GoFundMe
Meyer’s was , a goalkeeper for the women’s soccer team who majored in international relations and minored in history who was found dead in a residential building the day before
Meyer’s cause of death has not been released (pictured as a child at an unknown time)
A cause of death has not been released, but police said there was no threat to anyone else on campus and are not treating Meyer’s death as suspicious.
Meyer, of Newbury Park, California, earned national fame in 2019 after she made two critical saves to help the Cardinals win its third NCAA championship.
Her reaction to making the second save – where she looked directly into ESPN’s camera ad pantomimed locking her mouth shut and throwing away the key went viral with 5,900 likes.
The Stanford Daily reported that students first noticed ambulances and police vehicles near Crothers Hall at around 11am.
Residents of the building reported seeing police officers inside, and multiple sheriff cars and officers remained stationed outside the building through early afternoon.
The school has now released a list of grief resources available to students and others throughout the community.
It has also set up on-site counseling staff at Crothers Hall, where Meyer worked as a resident assistant, and athletics counseling staff have been working with the school’s student athletes.
‘We will grieve this loss together, and will be here for each other,’ the school said in a statement.
Katie Meyer, 22, was found dead in her dorm room at Stanford University Tuesday morning
She won an immense amount of awards, including ‘the 2018-2019 PAC12 Championship, the NCAA National Championship in 2019, two College Cup appearances, 2019 College Cup All-Tournament Team, 2019 United Coaches West Region Third Team, 2019, 2020-2021 two-time PAC12 fall academic honor roll and 2021 CoSIDA academic All-District 8,’ among others
Meyer was the captain of the Stanford twice (pictured in December)
Stanford shared this letter on the college’s website paying tribute to Meyer
Meyer was also a resident assistant at Crothers Hall (pictured) where she was found dead
Over the course of her four years at Stanford, Meyer had twice been the women’s soccer team captain and had twice made it to the Pacific-12 Conference’s honor roll, according to Mercury News.
Friends describe her as a ‘larger-than-life team player in all her pursuits,’ Stanford announced, ‘from choosing a major she said “changed my perspective on the world and the very important challenges that we need to work together to overcome” to the passion she brought to the Cardinal women’s soccer program and to women’s sports in general.’
In total, Mercury News reports, Meyer played in 50 games across three seasons, producing 20 shutouts and winning 34 matches while only allowing 35 goals.
Her goaltending was one of the main reasons Stanford was able to clench the national championship in 2019, when the team went undefeated with 16 starts and 11 shutouts.
She won an immense amount of awards, including ‘the 2018-2019 PAC12 Championship, the NCAA National Championship in 2019, two College Cup appearances, 2019 College Cup All-Tournament Team, 2019 United Coaches West Region Third Team, 2019, 2020-2021 two-time PAC12 fall academic honor roll and 2021 CoSIDA academic All-District 8,’ among others.
Katie also participated in national teams in Italy and the Netherlands, as well as camps across the world, according to the GoFundMe.
Tributes started pouring in for Meyer following the news of her death on Wednesday
Following the news of her death, tributes started pouring in on social media.
Zoe Hasenauer, who plays soccer for Oregon State and used to play in the Real SoCal soccer club with Meyer, wrote ‘You were always such a bright light in this world,’ along with a picture of the two of them, according to the Ventura County Star.
Former Washington state goalkeeper Courtney Worstell, who played against Meyer on the club, high school and collegiate levels, also wrote: ‘You’ll forever be one of the best to do it.
‘I still can’t wrap my head around it, and I don’t want to believe it.’
And in a statement posted to Twitter, the NCAA said: ‘We join Stanford in mourning the loss of Katie Meyer.
‘Our condolences to her family, friends and teammates.’
The US Soccer Federation also wrote: ‘The thoughts and hearts of the entire U.S. Soccer Federation are with the family, friends, teammates and loved ones of Katie Meyer.’
Meyer leaves behind her parents and sisters, according to school officials.