Furman's Shelnutt Tabbed Player of the Year
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - After navigating through conference play unbeaten and claiming its first SoCon soccer championship, Samford was rewarded with four first-team all-conference players and the Coach of the Year award went to Todd Yelton, it was announced on Tuesday.
The league's coaches voted on a pair of 11-player all-conference teams as well as individual awards.
Yelton was honored by his peers after guiding the Bulldogs to a 9-0-2 mark in league play while only surrendering five goals in those 11 matches. While the award is Yelton's first in the SoCon, the Bulldogs' coach was twice the Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year, earning the honor in 2003 and again in 2005.
Headlining the all-conference teams were four Bulldogs, led by senior goalkeeper Alyssa Whitehead. Joining Whitehead on the first team were teammates Sarah Wilkinson at forward, Michelle Moll at midfielder, and Sabbath McKiernan-Allen at defender.
Furman senior forward Rachel Shelnutt was voted as the league's Player of the Year after scoring 12 goals and accumulating 27 points on the season. In conference games, Shelnutt's nine markers tied for the most in the league. This marks the sixth time a Paladin has earned the conference's top individual honor and the first since Anna Betton in 2007.
Davidson striker Becca Fisher became the fourth Wildcat in the past seven seasons to be voted Freshman of the Year after fashioning a rookie campaign where she scored seven goals and notched four assists to rank seventh in the league with 18 points.
College of Charleston and Furman each placed two players on the first team, as the Cougars' Sarah Schaidle and Hannah Gmerek were joined by Shelnutt and freshman defender Ali Simpson from Furman.
UNCG forward Kristin Player, Chattanooga forward Donna-Kay Henry and The Citadel midfielder Vanessa Aponte also earned first-team distinction.
UNCG led all schools with three players on the all-conference second team followed by a pair from Elon. The Spartans were represented by Karin Sendel, Stephanie Parternheimer and Kelsey Kearney while Elon's Olivia Mackey and Andrea Keller were cited as well.
Others rewarded with inclusion on the all-conference second team were Hope Atkinson (College of Charleston), Mariana Garcia (The Citadel), Sophie Newsom (Davidson), Jessica Smith (Furman), Becca Smith (Chattanooga) and Kayla Beauduy (Western Carolina).
In addition to the all-conference teams, the coaches also selected an 11-player all-freshman team. Fisher was joined by teammates Rachel Locke and Stephanie Piperno to give the Wildcats a league-high three players on the squad.
Other All-Freshman team members were Ali Brashear and Sarah Cardamone from College of Charleston, Simpson and India Robinson from Furman, Ashley Stokes from UNCG, Joy Grove and Brittany Hoffman from Samford and Crystal Mackezyk from Chattanooga.
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 Greensboro, N.C., as No. 1 seed Samford takes on fifth-seeded Furman at 5:00 p.m. That match will be followed by No. 3 seed College of Charleston and No. 7 seed Georgia Southern at 7:30 p.m. The championship match is set for 1:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon and will be broadcast on ESPN3.
2011 Women's Soccer All-Conference Team
Player of the Year - Rachel Shelnutt, Sr., F, Furman
Coach of the Year - Todd Yelton, Samford
Freshman of the Year - Becca Fisher, F, Davidson
First Team
F Rachel Shelnutt, Furman
F Kristin Player, UNCG
F Sarah Wilkinson, Samford
F Donna-Kay Henry, Chattanooga
MF Sarah Schaidle, College of Charleston
MF Vanessa Aponte, The Citadel
MF Michelle Moll, Samford
D Hannah Gmerek, College of Charleston
D Ali Simpson, Furman
D Sabbath McKiernan-Allen, Samford
GK Alyssa Whitehead, Samford
Second Team
F Hope Atkinson, College of Charleston
F Mariana Garcia, The Citadel
F Becca Smith, Chattanooga
MF Olivia Mackey, Elon
MF Karin Sendel, UNCG
MF Kayla Beauduy, Western Carolina
D Sophie Newsom, Davidson
D Andrea Keller, Elon
D Stephanie Partenheimer, UNCG
GK Jessica Smith, Furman
GK Kelsey Kearney, UNCG
All-Freshman Team
Ali Brashear, College of Charleston
Sarah Cardamone, College of Charleston
Becca Fisher, Davidson
Rachel Locke, Davidson
Stephanie Piperno, Davidson
India Robinson, Furman
Ali Simpson, Furman
Ashley Stokes, UNCG
Joy Grove, Samford
Brittany Hoffman, Samford
Crystal Mackezyk, Chattanooga