Tindell, Buhigas, Blackwell Take Top @ASunSoccer Honors
Tindell, Buhigas, Blackwell Take Top @ASunSoccer Honors
2014 Women's Soccer Postseason Awards and Honors
MACON, Ga. - Six FGCU women's soccer student-athletes earned spots on the 2014 Atlantic Sun All-Conference First Team and Tabby Tindell was named the Player of the Year by a unanimous decision, announced Thursday by the league office.
Tindell landed the top honor after leading the conference in goals (17), points (41) and game-winning goals (9). The FGCU sophomore added seven assists to her 2014 regular season campaign. Tindell was the 2013 A-Sun Freshman of the Year, scoring 15 goals and 34 points last year. The Ocala, Fla. native helped lead FGCU to a perfect record in conference play, 7-0-0, to earn the opportunity to host the 2014 A-Sun Championship.
Emma Blackwell of FGCU collected the A-Sun Defensive Player of the Year honor after she led an FGCU backline that allowed the fewest goals in the A-Sun (11) during the regular season. Blackwell started in all 18 matches for the Eagles and amassed 1554 minutes of play. The junior defender added one goal and one assist to her 2014 season.
Lipscomb's Anna Buhigas, the 2014 A-Sun Scholar-Athlete of the Year, added another superlative to her 2014 season by winning the A-Sun Goalkeeper of the Year. Buhigas carries a 0.78 GAA heading into postseason play and is tied for the conference lead with nine shutouts. The sophomore goalkeeper helped Lipscomb to multiple program records, including 10 wins in a season, and assisted the Lady Bisons to a No. 2 seed in the A-Sun Championship.
FGCU head coach Jim Blankenship was named the A-Sun Coach of the Year for the third-straight year after coaching the Eagles to a 15-3 overall record, an unblemished conference record and its first national ranking in program history by Top Drawer Soccer.
Goalkeeper Brittany Brown, midfielders Paulina Speckmaier and Ally Kasun and forward Shannen Wacker joined Tindell and Blackwell as the other Eagles to make it to the All-Conference First Team. Speckmaier joined Tindell and Blackwell as unanimous selections. Blackwell, Brown, Speckmaier and Tindell make the First Team for the second year in a row, while Kasun makes it for the third year in a row. Wacker earned her third-straight All-Conference selection.
Jacksonville's senior forward Kaitlyn Bassett closed out her final season in the A-Sun with a spot on the First Team. Bassett notched four goals and three game-winners for Jacksonville this season and is just the tenth student-athlete in A-Sun Women's Soccer history to earn All-Conference honors four times in a collegiate career.
Kennesaw State defender Brittney Reed garnered a spot on the All-Conference First Team after anchoring a Kennesaw State defense and scoring two goals and six points in 2014. The All-Conference selection marks the second in a row for Reed.
Lipscomb's defender Carlotta Fennefoss and midfielder Jade Abarca made the First Team with Buhigas. Three All-Conference First Team members mark a program record for the Lady Bisons. Fennefoss earns an All-Conference selection for the second-straight year, member of last year's Second Team.
Freshman Macy Hamblin of Northern Kentucky joins Abarca as the only freshmen to make the All-Conference First Team. Hamblin also earned the 2014 A-Sun Freshman of the Year honor, leading the Norse with seven goals and 18 points.
The 2014 A-Sun Women's Soccer Championship begins on Friday, October 31 with a first round match between No. 3 Jacksonville and No. 6 Kennesaw State in Jacksonville, Fla. at 6 p.m. ET. Fans can watch Friday's match for free on ASun.TV.
All-Atlantic Sun First Team
GK - Brittany Brown, FGCU
GK - Anna Buhigas, Lipscomb
*D - Emma Blackwell, FGCU
D - Brittney Reed, Kennesaw State
D - Carlotta Fennefoss, Lipscomb
*MF - Paulina Speckmaier, FGCU
MF - Ally Kasun, FGCU
MF - Jade Abarca, Lipscomb
*F - Tabby Tindell, FGCU
F - Shannen Wacker, FGCU
F - Kaitlyn Bassett, Jacksonville
F - Macy Hamblin, Northern Kentucky
-A tie in the voting led to a 12-person first team all-conference
All-Atlantic Sun Second Team
GK - Sarah Sierra, Jacksonville
GK - Megan Dorsey, North Florida
D - Melissa Arnold, FGCU
D - Miranda Fyfe, Jacksonville
D - Carolyn Springsteen, Lipscomb
D - Makeshia Lucien, Stetson
MF - Lindsay Forrest, Jacksonville
MF - Hanna Parado, North Florida
MF - Haley Gethin, USC Upstate
MF - Mara Keomanivane, Stetson
F - Sope Akindoju, Jacksonville
F - Maggie Gaughan, Kennesaw State
F - Anna Lail, Lipscomb
- A tie in the voting led to a 13-person second team
All-Atlantic Sun Freshman Team
*F - Sope Akindoju, Jacksonville
*MF - Jade Abarca, Lipscomb
*F - Kayla Gray, North Florida
*MF - Hanna Parado, North Florida
*F - Macy Hamblin, Northern Kentucky
*F - Jessica Frey, Northern Kentucky
*F - Sarah Collins, Stetson
MF - Sami Koemans, Jacksonville
D - Abby Roth, Kennesaw State
D - Emily Rogers, Lipscomb
F - Jess Kinlaw, North Florida
* - Denotes a unanimous vote