Women's Soccer Dominates SEC Postseason Awards
Oct. 29, 2017
COLUMBIA, S.C. ââ’¬” Three days after capturing the 2017 SEC Regular-Season Title, South Carolina women’s soccer dominated the league’s postseason awards that were released Sunday afternoon.
Senior forward Savannah McCaskill garnered Offensive Player of the Year honors for the second-straight season, while sophomore center back Grace Fisk was tabbed the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. Shelley Smith grabbed Coach of the Year laurels to round out the major awards for South Carolina.
McCaskill and Fisk were also chosen as First-Team All-SEC selections, and Gamecocks Mikayla Krzeczowski, Tatumn Milazzo and Lindsey Lane were placed on the league’s Second Team. Carolina’s five All-SEC honorees led the conference.
Three Gamecock first-year players were also recognized Sunday, as forwards Luciana Zullo and Ryan Gareis and center back Jackie Schaefer grabbed a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team.
Thirty-five players have now earned All-SEC honors under Smith, while Fisk became the seventh Gamecock to receive a Player of the Year accolade.
McCaskill is the first player in program history to take home three major SEC postseason awards, and she joins Kayla Grimsley (2008-11) on the list of Carolina players to garner back-to-back league Offensive Player of the Year awards. The Chapin, S.C., native was tabbed the league’s Freshman of the Year in 2014 before earning her second major conference award last fall.
Sunday’s announcement marks the fourth Coach of the Year honor for Smith, who guided Carolina to its second-straight SEC Regular-Season Title this season. She previously garnered the accolade in 2009 before Carolina’s SEC Tournament Championship that year, and she won the award in 2011 and 2016 after the Gamecocks finished atop the league standings.
Carolina went unbeaten in conference action for the second-straight year in 2017, finishing with a mark of 9-0-1. The Gamecocks trailed in just one match during league play this season and outscored opponents 17-3 during their conference slate. Carolina is unbeaten in its last 23 SEC contests in a streak that dates back to 2015, and Smith’s squad became the second school in league history to notch 20-straight victories in conference play with its 2-0 win over Missouri on Oct. 19.
McCaskill, a two-time All-American, has served as the catalyst for the Gamecock offense this season. The senior forward’s team-leading nine assists rank first in the SEC and seventh among NCAA Division I players, and her 23 points stand as the fourth-best total in the conference. She netted three game-winners in conference play and set up fellow attacker Elexa Bahr’s game-winning tally this past Thursday that secured the SEC Regular-Season Championship for Carolina. McCaskill, one of three players in program history to reach 100 career points, recently moved into a tie with Jennie Ondo (1996-99) for the most game-winners (16) in school history.
Fisk anchored a Gamecock back line that was clinical throughout league action. Carolina didn’t allow more than three shots on goal in any conference game, and the Gamecocks held an SEC opponent to one attempt on frame two times. On the offensive end, Fisk added a pair of goals with tallies against Mississippi State (Oct. 5) and Missouri (Oct. 19). Her goal against the Bulldogs evened the score at 1-1 and sparked Carolina’s come-from-behind 3-2 victory.
Krzeczowski, a First-Team All-SEC selection last year, has remained among the elite in net in her sophomore campaign. She posted shutouts in eight of Carolina’s 10 league matches and conceded just three goals during conference action. The Douglasville, Ga., native boasts 11 shutouts on the year, and four of her clean sheets have come against ranked opponents. Her 0.46 goals against average and 0.65 shutouts per game in 2017 both lead all SEC goalkeepers.
Milazzo emerged as a versatile starter this season, seeing time as a central defender and right back. The sophomore has started all 17 games this season for a Gamecock squad that has conceded just eight goals on the year. Carolina has notched a shutout in 11 of its last 14 games, and the Gamecocks allowed more than one goal in a match just twice throughout regular season.
Lane has contributed on both ends of the field in her final year in Columbia. The senior midfielder helped the Gamecocks lead the SEC in shutouts (12) and goals against average (0.46) during the regular season, and she boasts two goals and two assists on the year. Both of her tallies in 2017 have been through penalty kicks, and the Lusby, Md., native netted the game-winner in the 76th minute in Carolina’s 1-0 victory over Alabama on Sept. 15.
Zullo has become a force in the attacking third for the Gamecocks after netting a handful of goals down the stretch of the regular season. The freshman forward registered two tallies in the final 13 minutes against Mississippi State, including the game-winner in the 95th minute. She notched her fourth goal of the year two games later in Carolina’s 3-0 victory over Vanderbilt on Oct. 15. Zullo’s four goals and 11 points this season rank third on the team and first among Gamecock freshmen.
Gareis, a regular starter for Carolina this fall, has brought speed to the Gamecock attack in her first season. The Naperville, Ill., native boasts two goals on the year, both of which came on the road against quality opponents. Gareis netted the overtime game-winner in Carolina’s 1-0 win over Notre Dame on Sept. 1, and she scored a from outside the box to push the Gamecock lead to 2-0 against No. 18 Ole Miss on Sept. 29. Her 16 shots on goal this season rank third on the team.
Schaefer has been solid playing alongside Fisk on the Carolina back line. She’s appeared in 15 matches and started 14 contests for a Gamecock team that has held opponents to 6.9 shots per game in 2017. Carolina has registered four shutouts against top-25 foes this season, and the Gamecocks have held an opponent to three or less shots on frame 12 times this fall.
Top-seeded Carolina opens play at the 2017 SEC Championship in Orange Beach, Ala., on Tue., Oct. 31. Its quarterfinal match, which kicks off at 6 p.m. ET, will be against either eighth-seeded Arkansas or ninth-seeded Ole Miss.
2017 SEC Soccer Awards
Coach of the Year
Shelley Smith, South Carolina
Offensive Player of the Year
Savannah McCaskill, South Carolina
Defensive Player of the Year
Grace Fisk, South Carolina
Freshman of the Year
Deanne Rose, Florida
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Mallory Eubanks, Mississippi State
First Team All-SEC
Forward Kristen Dodson, Auburn
Forward Savannah McCaskill, South Carolina
Forward Khadija Shaw, Tennessee
Forward Ally Watt, Texas A&M
Midfielder Gabby Seiler, Florida
Midfielder CeCe Kizer, Ole Miss
Midfielder Katie Cousins, Tennessee
Midfielder Mikaela Harvey, Texas A&M
Defender Celia Jimenez Delgado, Alabama
Defender Caroline Bado, Auburn
Defender Grace Fisk, South Carolina
Defender Maya Neal, Tennessee
Defender Stephanie Amack, Vanderbilt
Goalkeeper Catalina Perez, Mississippi State
At-Large Parker Roberts, Florida
At-Large Deanne Rose, Florida
Second Team All-SEC
Forward Abbie Boswell, Alabama
Forward Channing Foster, Ole Miss
Forward Sarah Luebbert, Missouri
Forward Simone Charley, Vanderbilt
Midfielder Emma Welch, Alabama
Midfielder Mallory Eubanks, Mississippi State
Midfielder Kaitlyn Clark, Missouri
Midfielder Lindsey Lane, South Carolina
Midfielder Anna Bialczak, Tennessee
Defender Jessi Hartzler, Arkansas
Defender Kristen Cardano, Florida
Defender Rachelle Smith, Florida
Defender Chiara Ritchie-Williams, LSU
Defender Tatumn Milazzo, South Carolina
Defender Kendall Ritchie, Texas A&M
Goalkeeper Mikayla Krzeczowski, South Carolina
At-Large Parker Goins, Arkansas
At-Large MaKayla Waldner, Mississippi State
All-Freshman Team
Parker Goins, Arkansas
Alyssa Malonson, Auburn
Deanne Rose, Florida
Miranda Jimenez, Kentucky
Channing Foster, Ole Miss
Ryan Gareis, South Carolina
Jackie Schaefer, South Carolina
Luciana Zullo, South Carolina
Erin Gilroy, Tennessee
Addie McCain, Texas A&M
Myra Konte, Vanderbilt
