Dec. 6, 2013

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Junior goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo has been named to the NSCAA All-America First Team, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) announced Friday.

The native of Welland, Ontario is the third Gamecock to be named an NSCAA All-American, and only the second to earn a spot on the first team after Blakely Mattern achieved the feat in 2009. She is one of six players from the Southeastern Conference to earn a spot on one of the three All-America teams this season, and the only player from the conference to be selected to the first team.

Earlier this week, D’Angelo was named as one of 15 semifinalists for the MAC Herman Trophy, becoming the first player in program history to be a semifinalist for the prestigious award. She was only the fifth goalkeeper since 2003 to be selected as a semifinalist.

The Canadian Youth International had one of the best seasons for a keeper in South Carolina history, recording 12 shutouts, posting a 0.59 goals against average while anchoring the Southeastern Conference’s top defense. Her 12 shutouts led the conference and ranked seventh nationally. For the second time in her career, she was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year after previously garnering the honor in 2011 when she was also named SEC Freshman of the Year. She was selected to the All-SEC First Team for the second time and earned postseason conference honors for the third consecutive year.

Outshot 22-9 in two games against Top 10 competition this season, D’Angelo stood her ground and produced eight saves and allowed only one goal as the Gamecocks became the first squad in program history to defeat two Top 10 opponents in a season (No. 7 Duke, 1-0; at No. 8 Florida, 2-1 2OT). She earned national recognition after the opening weekend of the season from TopDrawerSoccer.com as she was named to the outlet’s Team of the Week after posting four saves in a shutout over Duke.

This season, D’Angelo helped lead South Carolina to its highest ranking since 2009 as the team reached No. 7 in the NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division I Women’s National Poll on Oct. 15.

With 17 wins this year, the junior has been in goal for the Gamecocks during two of the top three seasons in school history after the 2011 team earned 16 wins en route to a regular-season conference championship. Her 36 career wins in goal is second all-time at South Carolina. She ranks second in program history in career shutouts with 19 and is third in goals against average at 0.83.

D’Angelo is the fourth goalkeeper from South Carolina, and first for the women’s program, to be named an All-American as the men’s team has had three in its history (Charles Arndt, Brad Guzan, Henry Ring).

2013 NSCAA All-America Team

First Team

Second Team

Third Team