IRVING, Texas – The American Athletic Conference has announced the winners of its 2021 women’s soccer honors, as chosen by the league’s head coaches.
Two student-athletes repeated as individual award winners, as South Florida’s Sydny Nasello was named the Offensive Player of the Year and Cincinnati’s Ashley Barron was Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight year.
UCF’s Darya Rajaee and Caroline DeLisle were honored as the Midfielder of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year, respectively. East Carolina’s Haley McWhirter was named the Rookie of the Year, while Houston’s coaches were named the Coaching Staff of the Year.
Nasello leads the league with 10 goals and 24 points. The junior has three game-winning goals and four assists this season.
A three-time first-team all-conference selection, Barron repeated as Defensive Player of the Year after anchoring the Bearcat defense to a 1.46 goals against average and two shutouts.
Rajaee started all 16 matches in the midfield, recording three goals and three assists for the Knights. She figured in five goals that contributed to UCF wins.
DeLisle recorded five shutouts for the Knights while recording an .812 save percentage (second in the league) and a 1.13 goals against average.
In her first season, McWhirter is tied for fifth in the conference with six goals, including three game winners for East Carolina.
Houston head coach Diego Bocanegra and his staff guided the Cougars to a 5-2-1 record in conference play (13-4-2 overall) and second place in the standings after being picked to finish seventh in the preseason coaches’ poll.
UCF earned the Team Fair Play Award, which goes to the team with the fewest accumulated fouls, yellow cards and red cards in league action.
Nasello and Memphis’ Tanya Boychuk were unanimous first-team all-conference selections. UCF and South Florida each had three first-team honorees.
2021 American Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Honors
Offensive Player of the Year
Sydny Nasello, Jr., F, South Florida*
Defensive Player of the Year
Ashley Barron, Jr., D, Cincinnati
Midfielder of the Year
Darya Rajaee, Sr., UCF
Goalkeeper of the Year
Caroline DeLisle, R-Jr., UCF
Rookie of the Year
Haley McWhirter, M, East Carolina
Coaching Staff of the Year
Houston
(Head coach Diego Bocanegra, assistant coach Gus Mota, assistant coach Chesley Patterson, volunteer assistant Morgan Ferrara)
Team Fair Play Award
UCF
All-Conference First Team
Caroline DeLisle, R-Jr., GK, UCF
Darya Rajaee, Sr., M, UCF
Kristen Scott, Sr., F, UCF
Ashley Barron, Jr., D, Cincinnati
Jazmin Grant, R-Sr., F, Houston
Tanya Boychuk, Sr., F, Memphis*
Grace Stordy, So., M/D, Memphis
Vivianne Bessette, Fr., D, South Florida
Chyanne Dennis, Sr., D, South Florida
Sydny Nasello, Jr., F, South Florida*
Courtney Sebazco, Sr., M, SMU
Emily Kavanaugh, Jr., F, Temple
All-Conference Second Team
Vanessa DiNardo, Sr., F, Cincinnati
Haley McWhirter, Fr., M, East Carolina
Kim Sanford, Gr., D, East Carolina
Mia Brascia, R-Sr., M, Houston
Emma Clarke, Sr., D, Houston
Mya Jones, Jr., F/M, Memphis
Haylee Spray, So., M/D, Memphis
Sydney Martinez, Jr., GK, South Florida
Sabrina Wagner, Sr., M/D, South Florida
Wayny Balata, Jr., M, SMU
Brooke Golik, Sr., D, SMU
Katina Tsapos, Gr., M, SMU
Elisabeth Tse, Fr., D, SMU
All-Rookie Team
Ariel Young, D, UCF*
Paige Miller, F, Cincinnati
Haley McWhirter, M, East Carolina*
Samantha Wiehe, M, Houston
Jocelyn Alonzo, F/M, Memphis*
Aubrey Mister, F/M, Memphis
Momo Nakao, M, Memphis
Madeleine Penman-Derstine, F/M, South Florida
Elizabeth Tse, D, SMU*
Sammy Nieves, D, SMU
Moa Andersson, M, Temple
Madison Williams, D, Tulsa
* denotes unanimous selection