Conference Carolinas Announces Women’s Soccer Award Winners
Conference Carolinas Announces Women’s Soccer Award Winners
High Point, N.C. - Conference
Carolinas announces the women’s soccer all-conference teams
during this week's Conference Carolinas Men's & Women's Soccer
Championship Tournament. Awards include All-Conference First,
Second, & Third teams, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive
Player of the Year, Coach of the Year, Freshman of the Year, and
Regular Season Champions. Head coaches from conference member
institutions nominate and then vote on the award winners who
represent the best of the best for the league.
The conference championships started Monday with the top eight
teams qualifying for quarterfinal action. Semifinal play resumes
Thursday (men) and Friday (women) with the championship finals on
Saturday (men) and Sunday (women). All games are played at the
highest remaining seed after the quarterfinal round. Converse is
the host of the women’s tournament, while Limestone hosts the
men’s tournament. The women's tournament champion receives an
automatic berth to the NCAA DII championships while the top six
regionally ranked men's teams will qualify for postseason play.
Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Year
Forward, Senior
Gabriella Reid – Senior forward Gabriella Reid earned her
second Conference Carolinas Player of the Year award after leading
the Saints with 10 goals and five assists for a total of 25 points.
She became the first player in Limestone College women’s
soccer history to record 10 or more goals in each of her four
years. Reid currently ranks second in the conference in goals and
points and is tied for fifth in assists, and guided the Saints to
their highest ever seeding in the conference tournament
Women's Soccer Defensive Player of the Year
Forward, Junior
Leah Kennington – Junior defender Leah Kennington has
anchored a stingy Limestone defense that has posted five shutouts
in conference and seven overall. She helped lead the Saints to its
highest ever seeding in the Conference Carolinas Tournament by
limiting opponents to just 12 goals in league play. Kennington has
one goal on the season, connecting on a penalty kick in a 4-3 win
over Belmont Abbey.
Women's Soccer Freshman of the Year
Hulda Sigurdardottir,
King
Midfielder, Freshman
Hulda Sigurdardottir headlined
this group as she was named the Conference Carolinas Freshman of
the Year. In her first season in the Scarlett and Navy,
Sigurdardottir netted four goals and dished out five assists which
ranks fifth in the league. She scored King’s lone goal in
their overtime conference tournament loss at Belmont Abbey College,
as she evened the score at 1-1 in the 71st minute. Her first career
goal was in King’s 3-1 win over Belmont Abbey and she scored
her first game-winning goal against Erskine College. The goal came
in the 78th minute and gave King a 3-2 comeback win. She added
another goal in King’s 3-0 win at Lees-McRae College while
she posted two assists twice, first coming at Emmanuel College and
again against Southern Wesleyan University. The Reykjavik, Iceland
native also garnered first team all-conference honors.
Women's Soccer Coach of the Year
4th season as Head Coach
Coach John Constable took over the reins of the Valkyrie Soccer
program in 2011 that had not seen a winning season since the
program was reinstated in 1998. In four years Constable took a team
from 2-15-1 to a program best 15-2-1 with a Conference Carolinas
Regular Season Championship, regional rankings and a third straight
postseason appearance. Constable’s Valkyries were picked
seventh in this year’s preseason poll before claiming the
regular season title. The Valkyries finished the regular season
with a 15-2-1 record and a 9-1-1 record in league play to earn the
top seed and the right to host the Conference Carolinas Final
Four.
Women's All-Conference
1st-Team
Gabriella Reid, Limestone -Forward
Alexandra Marquez, Converse -Forward
Rachel Thorpe, King –Forward
Zoe Fisher, Limestone -Forward
Hulda Sigurdardottir, King -Midfielder
Emily Futral, Barton -Midfielder
Jillian Lang, Belmont Abbey –Midfielder
Leah Kennington, Limestone -Defender
Kaitlin Sampson, Pfeiffer -Defender
Cheyenne Warrick, Lees-McRae -Defender
Carson Moore, Barton -Goalkeeper
Women's All-Conference
2nd-Team
Aaliyah Jackson, Pfieffer -Forward
Cierra Skyers, Belmont Abbey -Forward
Meghan Philp, Belmont Abbey –Forward
Georgia Jones, Converse –Midfielder
Allie Winglosky, Limestone -Midfielder
Lane Brooks, Barton -Midfielder
Kasey Byzewski, Barton -Defender
Madeline Gadd, Pfeiffer -Defender
Bethany Spivey, Converse -Defender
Halley Wisner, Converse -Defender
Blakeney Blair, Pfeiffer -Goalkeeper
Women's All-Conference
3rd-Team
Catherine Walsh, King -Forward
Meagan Thornton, Lees-McRae -Forward
Nichole Poppe, Mount Olive -Forward
Tori Jackson, Pfeiffer –Midfielder
Kayla Rodriguez, Pfeiffer –Midfielder
Natalie Johnson, Converse -Midfielder
Cassidy Coutinho, Belmont Abbey -Midfielder
Megan Nanney, Belmont Abbey -Defender
Brittany Jakiela, Erskine -Defender
Helen Winterburn, Limestone -Defender
Kaitlyn Briggs, Lees-McRae -Goalkeeper
Women's Soccer Regular Season
Champions
Converse College