SUWANEE, Ga. – In exclusive voting by the
head women’s soccer coaches of the Southern Collegiate
Athletic Conference (SCAC), Trinity University’s Abigail Loar
was selected SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Year while Austin
College’s Ashleigh Johnson was named SCAC Defensive
Player-of-the-Year. Complete Release
In the same balloting, Clara St. Urbain of Oglethorpe University
was tabbed the league’s Newcomer-of-the-Year and Trinity head
coach Lance Key was voted SCAC Women’s Coach-of-the-Year for
the second consecutive season.
Abigail Loar, a junior forward from Littleton, Colo., led the
league in scoring with 16 goals and 11 assists for 43 points,
including five game-winners (tied for second in the SCAC). The 16
goals scored by Loar represent the most in a single-season by any
conference women’s player since the 2005 season. After
scoring a SCAC-high 15 goals last season, Loar is the first player
since Centre College’s Erin Menard in 2005 and 2006 to lead
the league in goals scored in consecutive seasons and just the
fifth in the history of the league to accomplish the feat. Loar is
the sixth Trinity player in the last seven years to earn at least a
share of the league’s Offensive Player-of-the-Year award.
Loar received seven votes in the Offensive POTY balloting. Senior
forward Brittany Garr of Centre and junior forward Alicia Plotky of
Birmingham-Southern College received two votes each.
Ashleigh Johnson, a senior defender from Austin, Texas, was the
best defender on the best defensive team in the league as Austin
College led the SCAC in goals allowed (eight) and goals against
average (0.46). Johnson successfully marked each team’s best
forward (unfortunately some have of you had more than one) and was
a big reason the ‘Roos posted 10 shutouts this season (second
in the SCAC). She is the first women’s soccer player
from Austin College to receive one of the league’s major
postseason awards since the ‘Roos joined the SCAC prior to
the 2006 season.
Johnson received six votes in the Defensive POTY voting, while
Trinity’s junior defender Allyson Thrall picked up two votes.
Sophomore defender Amy Hebbeler of Centre, sophomore goalkeeper
Sarah Nonaka of Southwestern University, and senior goalkeeper
Lauren Palfrey of DePauw University each received one vote.
Clara St. Urbain, a first-year forward from Marietta, Ga., and the
only freshman to finish in the top 10 among conference scoring
leaders, netted eight goals and one assist for 17 points during the
regular season. Her scoring effort was the most by an Oglethorpe
player in over five years, and she played most of the season while
injured. Since the league began recognizing a Newcomer-of-the-Year
prior to the 2001 season, St. Urbain is the first player from
Oglethorpe to earn the honor. In fact, with this honor, she becomes
the first player from Oglethorpe to ever earn a postseason SCAC
women’s soccer award.
St. Urbain received six votes in the Newcomer-of-the-Year voting,
followed by first-year midfielder Angela Cotherman of DePauw and
first-year defender Catey Hunter of Centre, who had two votes each.
First-year defender Jennifer White of Trinity received the
remaining vote for Newcomer-of-the-Year
Lance Key, in his seventh year as head coach at Trinity, led the
Tigers to their 15th SCAC championship - the fifth under coach
Key's leadership - with a 10-0-0 conference mark. Trinity,
competing in its sixth NCAA postseason tournament in the past seven
years, and 16th overall, defeated University of Puget Sound, 2-0,
before falling to second-ranked Hardin-Simmons, 2-1, in NCAA second
round play.
Key has posted a 106-15-10 record (.847) in his seven seasons at
the helm of the women’s soccer program at Trinity –
giving him the highest winning percentage among anyone who has ever
coached in the SCAC in any team sport. The SCAC Coach-of-the-Year
award is the fourth of his career.
Key received six votes from his peers in the COTY voting. Jay
Hoffman of Centre and Joe Vari of Rhodes College received two votes
each, and Alan Woods of Oglethorpe received the remaining vote.
For the complete 2010 All-SCAC Women's Soccer release, click
here.