Oct. 29, 2009

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s soccer players Blakely Mattern and Mollie Patton were named to the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District (III) team, the organization announced Thursday (Oct. 29), to mark the third consecutive honor for Mattern and second consecutive honor for Patton.

Mattern was named to the first team for the third consecutive year, and Patton was selected to the second team. Mattern will now be considered to earn Academic All-America honors for the second straight year, an award that will be announced in late November. South Carolina is one of five Division I schools in the nation to have had a CoSIDA Academic All-America selection each of the past four seasons (2005-08), and the program hopes to continue that academic excellence in 2009.

To be eligible for Academic All-District honors, student-athletes must hold at least a 3.3 grade point average and be a sophomore in academic and athletic standing. With Mattern’s selection this year, the Gamecocks have had a student-athlete named to the Academic All-District First Team every season since 2004.

Mattern (Simpsonville, S.C./JL Mann HS) holds a 3.986 grade point average at South Carolina. The Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award finalist is a three-time member of the SEC Academic Honor Roll selection and is currently pursuing a degree in international business with a focus on global supply chain. A team captain, Mattern became the first All-American in program history in 2007 when she was named to the Soccer Buzz team following a strong season that saw her become the first sophomore in conference history to earn SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors. Also a 2006 Freshman All-American, she is a three-time All-SEC selection and currently holds the South Carolina records for matches started (85) and matches played (85). She serves as the team leader for the SEC’s top defensive unit that is ranked third in the nation with a 0.38 goals against average with 13 shutouts.

Patton (Milford, Ohio/Milford HS) has had a breakout junior season in goal that has her ranked third in the nation with 12 solo shutouts, fourth nationally with a 0.33 goals against average and seventh nationally with a .903 save percentage. A 2007 Academic All-District third team selection, Patton currently holds the South Carolina single season (12) and career (19) shutout records after only 40 career games. Earlier this season, Patton set the SEC record for consecutive shutouts with seven straight after opening the year with a 771:38 shutout streak. She is pursuing a degree in exercise science.