CHARLESTON, SC – UNC Greensboro senior Katelynn Donovan was named the Southern Conference's Player of the Year and Eddie Radwanski was named the league's Coach of the Year at the annual awards banquet on the eve of the conference tournament's semifinal round.
UNCG placed five players on the all-conference's first team and another on the second team. Two Spartans were named to the conference's first-ever All-Freshman squad. Furman was the only other team with multiple first-team selections, placing two on the 11-player squad.
Donovan, a senior from Melville, NY, scored 22 of her 28 points in Southern Conference regular-season play. She tallied 10 goals and two assists in 11 league matches this season. She is the ninth player in Spartan women's soccer history to tally a dozen goals in a single season. She follows in the footsteps of her older sister Shannon, who won the conference's top honor in 2006 as a member of the Spartans. Donovan is the sixth different Spartan to win the conference's Player of the Year award since UNCG joined the league 12 seasons ago.
Radwanski won the award for the third consecutive year, joining Furman's Brian Lee as the only other coach to do it in SoCon women's soccer history. He led the Spartans to their third-straight Southern Conference regular-season title in unbeaten fashion, a feat only accomplished 10 times before in college women's soccer by eight different programs. He won his 100th game in the course of this campaign, increasing the Spartans' SoCon regular season unbeaten run to 31 consecutive contests (29-0-2). The Spartans are currently 16-4-1 overall on the season and began the week No. 48 in the official RPI ratings as released by the NCAA. They received 12 votes in the NSCAA poll this week to make them 30th in the Top 25 rankings.
Joining Donovan on the first team were Spartan midfielder Jen Bronson, defenders Jamie Corti and Lauren Lopez and goalkeeper Kelsey Kearney. Midfielder Nicole Danford earned second-team honors. Danford and Kearney were also named to the league's All-Freshman squad. Bronson appeared in all 21 matches and recorded five points, while Corti, Lopez and Kearney were the cornerstones in a defense that allowed just 12 goals over the final 18 matches. Kearney is among the nation's top 30 in goals against average at 0.55 and save percentage at .857.
Bronson and Corti earned their second first-team all-conference selections, while Lopez was a second-team honoree last season.
Furman's Martha Hall edged out Kearney in the Freshman of the Year balloting. She finished fourth in the league in scoring with 25 points on 10 goals and five assists.
Top-seeded UNCG goes in search of its seventh tournament title when it faces fifth-seeded Furman in the first semifinal Friday at 4:30 pm.
All-Southern Conference
First Team
F
Kyri Bye-Nagel, Davidson
F
Katelynn Donovan, UNC Greensboro
F
Megan Manthey, College of Charleston
F
Ashley Toussaint, Georgia Southern
M
Jen Bronson, UNC Greensboro
M
Rachel Fry, Furman
M
Shanna Schmoker, Western Carolina
D
Jamie Corti, UNC Greensboro
D
Lauren Lopez, UNC Greensboro
D
Kate Myatt, Furman
GK
Kelsey Kearney, UNC Greensboro
Second Team
F
D.K. Henry, Chattanooga
F
Katina Boozer, Elon
F
Martha Hall, Furman
M
Courtney Hart, Davidson
M
Katie Perchini, Elon
M
Nicole Danford, UNC Greensboro
D
Danielle Jordan, College of Charleston
D
Brittany Schneider, College of Charleston
D
Ashley Creavalle, Furman
D
Arlan Whittle, Western Carolina
GK
Erin Smith, College of Charleston
All-Freshman Team
F
Hope Atkinson, College of Charleston
F
D.K. Henry, Chattanooga
F
Martha Hall, Furman
F
Danae Kaimuloa, Georgia Southern
M
Kayla Beauduy, Western Carolina
M
Nicole Danford, UNC Greensboro
M
Sarah Wilkinson, Samford
D
Theresa Henry, Samford
D
Andrea Keller, Elon
GK
Alyssa Whitehead, Samford
GK
Kelsey Kearney, UNC Greensboro
Player of the Year: Katelynn Donovan, UNC Greensboro
Freshman of the Year: Martha Hall, Furman
Coach of the Year: Eddie Radwanski, UNC
Greensboro
- UNCG -