The Citadel Sweeps Major Awards
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - After dominating the regular season with an 11-0 record in conference play, UNCG was rewarded today with six selections to the Southern Conference Women's Soccer All-Conference teams, including five first-team honorees.
The league's coaches voted on a pair of 11-player all-conference teams as well as individual awards.
The Citadel, the league's surprise story in 2010, swept the individual awards as freshman forward Mariana Garcia earned both Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honors while Bulldogs head coach Bob Winch was voted by his peers as Coach of the Year for the second consecutive campaign.
Garcia, also a first team all-conference choice at midfielder, led the Bulldogs with nine goals and an assist in her maiden season, including five tallies in league matches. The Bogota, Columbia, native becomes the second freshman in as many seasons to win both awards, as UNCG's Tabitha Padgett shared both a season ago.
Padgett, a sophomore forward, led a group of six UNCG starters on the all-conference squad, including five on the first team. The sophomore tied for the league lead with 10 goals on the season, including a SoCon-best eight markers and 20 points in conference play.
Midfielders Cat Barnekow and Jenn Partenheimer also represented UNCG on the first team, as did defender Katie Evans and goalkeeper Kelsey Kearney.
Other forwards earning first-team distinction were Martha Hall (Furman), Donna-Kay Henry (Chattanooga) and Sara Wilkinson (Samford) while defenders Leah Leppert and Colette Namour of Samford gave the Bulldogs three first-team selections.
College of Charleston, Davidson, Furman and Samford each placed a pair of players on the all-conference second team. CofC was represented by midfielder Sarah Schaidle and defender Hannah Gmerek while Davidson placed midfielder Allison Drutchas and defender Amanda Flink. Rachel Shelnutt (MF) and Ashley Creavalle (D) were Furman's second team members, and Paige Lanter (MF) and Alyssa Whitehead (GK) from Samford were also rewarded for outstanding seasons.
A trio of forwards, The Citadel's Nicole Levermann, Elon's Brittany Hallberg and UNCG's Kristen Schmidbauer, also garnered second-team plaudits.
In addition to the all-conference teams, the coaches also selection an 11-player all-freshman team. Schmidbauer was joined by teammates Morgan Kennedy and Stine Schoening from UNCG while The Citadel also placed three on the squad in Vanessa Aponte, Garcia and Levermann.
Other All-Freshman team members were Chelsea Stark (Elon), Dee Makris (Furman), Catie Moore (Furman), Trine Taule (Samford) and Brittany Gendron (Western Carolina).
Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players or for themselves in the balloting.
The Southern Conference Women's Soccer Championship continues Friday in Cullowhee, N.C., as No. 1 seed UNCG takes on fifth-seeded Elon at 5:00 p.m. That match will be followed by No. 2 seed Samford and No. 3 seed The Citadel at 7:30 p.m. with the winners facing off Sunday at 1:00 p.m. for the tournament title.
2010 Women's Soccer All-Conference Team
Player of the Year - Mariana Garcia, The Citadel, Fr., MF
Coach of the Year - Bob Winch, The Citadel
Freshman of the Year - Mariana Garcia, The Citadel, MF
First Team
F Martha Hall, Furman
F Tabitha Padgett, UNCG
F Donna-Kay Henry, Chattanooga
F Sara Wilkinson, Samford
MF Mariana Garcia, The Citadel
MF Cat Barnekow, UNCG
MF Jenn Partenheimer, UNCG
D Katie Evans, UNCG
D Leah Leppert, Samford
D Colette Namour, Samford
GK Kelsey Kearney, UNCG
Second Team
F Nicole Levermann, The Citadel
F Brittany Hallberg, Elon
F Kristen Schmidbauer, UNCG
MF Sarah Schaidle, College of Charleston
MF Allison Drutchas, Davidson
MF Rachel Shelnutt, Furman
MF Paige Lanter, Samford
D Hannah Gmerek, College of Charleston
D Amanda Flink, Davidson
D Ashley Creavalle, Furman
GK Alyssa Whitehead, Samford
All-Freshman Team
Vanessa Aponte, F, The Citadel
Mariana Garcia, MF, The Citadel
Nicole Levermann, F, The Citadel
Chelsea Stark, F, Elon
Dee Makris, MF, Furman
Catie Moore, D, Furman
Morgan Kennedy, D, UNCG
Kristen Schmidbauer, F, UNCG
Stine Schoening, D, UNCG
Trine Taule, F, Samford
Brittany Gendron, D, Western Carolina