Dec. 1, 2016
2016 NSCAA All-South Region Teams
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Five South Carolina women’s soccer standouts have earned NSCAA All-South Region honors, the coaching organization announced this week. Seniors Kaleigh Kurtz and Chelsea Drennan, junior Savannah McCaskill and freshman Mikayla Krzeczowski were named to the All-South First Team, while senior Paige Bendell landed on the All-South Second Team.
Carolina’s four first-team honorees marked a program single-season record and led all teams in the south region. The Gamecocks’ five selections overall equaled the school’s single-year record that was set in 2009. Carolina has placed at least three players on NSCAA All-Region teams in four of the last five years.
Kurtz, the 2016 SEC Defensive Player of the Year, anchored the back line for a Gamecock team that posted a single-season program record 0.41 goals against average, the sixth-best mark in NCAA Division I. The Gamecocks, who limited an opponent to three or fewer shots on target 17 times in 2016, totaled an SEC-leading 14 shutouts.
Drennan, the school’s all-time assists leader (40), wrapped up a productive four-year span at Carolina with career highs in points (27) and goals (8). The team captain led the team in assists (11) for the fourth-straight year and tallied three game-winners on the season. Her overtime penalty kick lifted the Gamecocks to a 1-0 win over No. 17 Florida on Oct. 16, and she notched the game-winning goal against No. 20 Colorado in the NCAA Tournament Second Round.
McCaskill turned in a historic season for the Gamecocks, setting single-season program records for points (45) and goals (17). The 2016 SEC Offensive Player of the Year led the league and ranked second nationally with 10 game-winners, and her 1.88 points per game were first among conference players. This season marks McCaskill’s second time on the NSCAA All-South First Team.
Krzeczowski was tremendous in her first season in net for Carolina, tallying an SEC-leading 11 shutouts. Her 0.43 goals against average also topped the league and marked a new single-season program record. The Douglasville, Ga., native, who started all of Carolina’s 11 SEC matches, allowed just three goals in league play, earning eight shutouts.
Bendell started all 24 matches alongside Kurtz and led all Carolina defenders with three goals. The Gamecocks registered eight shutouts in SEC action, and they allowed just one goal in the NCAA Tournament on their way to the Elite Eight. Carolina’s 14 shutouts in 2016 were one shy of the school’s single-season record.
The Gamecocks, the 2016 SEC Regular-Season Champions, advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the second time in the last three years. Carolina’s 21 wins and five victories over ranked opponents were both single-season program records, and the Gamecocks spent the last five weeks of the regular season in the top three of the NSCAA Coaches’ Poll.
