PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The American Athletic Conference announced the women’s soccer awards for the 2017 season, which were voted by the league’s 10 head coaches.
UCF took six of the major awards including, Offensive Player of the Year, Co-Defensive Player of the Year, Midfielder of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year. Morgan Ferrara (UCF) was named this year’s Offensive Player of the Year. Vanessa Gilles of Cincinnati and Kathellen Sousa of UCF took home Co-Defensive Player of the Year. Kayla Adamek (UCF) earned this year’s Midfielder of the Year, while teammate Vera Varis was voted Goalkeeper of the Year. Dina Orschmann of UCF won the Rookie of the Week honor. UCF’s Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak was unanimously chosen as Coach of the Year.
The American All-Conference and All-Rookie teams were also announced. Eleven student-athletes were selected to the 2017 All-Conference First Team including Adamek, Ferrara, Sousa, Varis, Gilles, Marie Levasseur, Elizabeth Woerner, Andrea Hauskdottir, Evelyne Viens, Claire Oates and Rachel Thun-Blankenship. Eleven selections were also chosen for the All-Conference Second Team including Orschmann, Sophie Gorman, Vivien Beil, Yamilee Eveillard, Courtney Cash, Jasmin Grant, Selena Peters, Olivia Gauthier, Jessica Lisi, Kat Elliott and Allie Thornton. The All-Rookie team features 11 at-large selections including Orschmann, who was a unanimous selection to the team, Stephanie Sanders, Kiki Lowell, Gorman, Kess Elmore, Eveillard, Grant, Clarissa Larisey, Elizabeth Moberg, Katie Kitching, Hannah Allred and Isabelle Nashmi.
Ferrara led the league in game-winning goals (four), total goals (10) and points scored (23) in conference play. The senior scored a hat-trick against Memphis on Oct. 1, and enters the Conference Championship with a season-high 12 total goals and 27 points on the year. She helped the Knights to its second American Athletic Conference regular season title and highest United Soccer Coaches (formerly NSCAA) rank (No. 7) in program history.
Gilles has played in all nine conference matches for the Bearcats, recording seven league shutouts and 11 on the year. An anchor in the back line, she helped her team back to a fifth straight Conference Championship bid.
Sousa led a UCF back line that did not lose a single match in conference play (7-0-2). The senior has started every match for the Knights and helped her team tally seven clean sheets through league action and eight overall.
Kayla Adamek is second in the conference in goals scored (eight) and third in points (19). She had three multi-goal matches in league action and is second in goals per game (0.89).
Varis led her team to seven shutouts in conference play. Varis compiled a 0.12 goals-against average and 0.952 save percentage through nine league matches in goal and is third and fourth in the NCAA in each category respectively.
Orschmann ranks fourth in the conference in shots (27), points (14) and goals (four) in her rookie campaign. The forward finished fourth in the conference in goals per game (0.50) and scored in three out of the eight league matches she played in.
Roberts Sahaydak coached her team to its second American Athletic Conference regular season title in program history. She did not lose a single match in conference play this season, defeated then-No. 4 North Carolina 2-1 OT (Aug. 25) and has one loss on the season at then-No. 4 South Carolina (Aug. 18).
SMU earned the Team Fair Play Award after totaling 95 points (90 fouls, one yellow card and zero red cards) during conference play. The Fair Play Award is given to the team with the fewest accumulated fouls, yellow cards and red cards in league action (foul=one point, yellow card-five points, red card=10 points).
Memphis was the winner of the Team Academic Excellence Award as the team with the highest cumulative grade-point average.
2017 American Women’s Soccer Awards
Offensive Player of the Year
Morgan Ferrara, Sr., F, UCF
Co-Defensive Players of the Year
Kathellen Sousa, Sr., D, UCF
Vanessa Gilles, Sr., D, Cincinnati
Midfielder of the Year
Kayla Adamek, Sr., M, UCF
Goalkeeper of the Year
Vera Varis, Jr., UCF
Rookie of the Year
Dina Orschmann, Fr., F, UCF
Coach of the Year
Tiffany Roberts Sahaydak, UCF *
Team Fair Play Award
SMU, 95 points
Team Academic Excellence Award
Memphis
All-Conference First Team
Kayla Adamek, Sr., M, UCF
Morgan Ferrara, Sr., F, UCF
Kathellen Sousa, Sr., D, UCF
Vera Varis, Jr., GK, UCF
Vanessa Gilles, Sr., D, Cincinnati
Marie Levasseur, Jr., F, Memphis
Elizabeth Woerner, Jr., F, Memphis
Andrea Hauskdottir, So., M, USF
Evelyne Viens,So., F, USF *
Claire Oates, Sr., M, SMU
Rachel Thun-Blankenship, Sr., M, Tulsa
All-Conference Second Team
Dina Orschmann, Fr., F, UCF
Sophie Gorman, Fr., M, Cincinnati
Vivien Beil, Jr., F, UConn
Yamilee Eveillard, Fr., M, UConn
Courtney Cash, Sr., F, ECU
Jazmin Grant, Fr., F, Houston
Selena Peters, Sr., M/F, Houston
Olivia Gauthier, Jr., D, Memphis
Jessica Lisi, So., M, Memphis
Kat Elliott, Sr., GK, USF
Allie Thornton, Sr., F/M, SMU
All-Rookie Team
Dina Orschmann, F, UCF *
Stefanie Sanders, F, UCF
Kiki Lowell, D, Cincinnati
Sophie Gorman, M, Cincinnati
Kess Elmore, F, UConn
Yamilee Eveillard, F, UConn
Jazmin Grant, F, Houston
Clarissa Larisey, F, Memphis
Elizabeth Moberg, GK, Memphis
Katie Kitching, M, USF
Hannah Allred, F, SMU
Isabelle Nashmi, M, SMU
[*] denotes unanimous selection
Ties are not broken
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