LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – In exclusive voting by the head women’s soccer coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), Texas Lutheran University’s Sioned Kirkpatrick was selected SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Year while the University of Dallas’ Elena Naccari was named SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year. Complete Release
In the same balloting, Kyli Harvey of Schreiner University was tabbed the league’s Newcomer-of-the-Year while her head coach, Nick Morrison, was named SCAC Coach-of-the-Year.
A senior forward from San Antonio, Texas, Sioned Kirkpatrick is currently tied for the league lead in goals scored (13), leads the league in both shots (66) and game-winning goals (7) and is second in points scored (28). She was named to the all-tournament team at last week’s conference championship – the third consecutive year she has earned all-tournament honors. She is one of just four players in league history to accomplish that feat. A first-team All-SCAC selection all three of her years in the conference, Kirkpatrick finished her career with 112 points and 48 goals – both good for third all-time in program history. Perhaps the most impressive statistic from her four years in Seguin, Kirkpatrick scored 43.2 percent of her team’s goals during her career (48 of 111). She is the first TLU player to earn SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Year honors and the program’s first conference OPOTY since Kelli Layden was named ASC Offensive Player-of-the-Year following the 2007 season.
Kirkpatrick received four votes in the balloting for Offensive Player-of-the-Year, narrowly defeating sophomore midfielder Colleen Markey of Trinity who received the remaining three first-place votes.
Elena Naccari, a sophomore goalkeeper from Covington, La., is currently second in the conference with 137 saves, including 45 in three games against top 25 competition. She finished her season with a 1.94 GAA and is currently third in the league in shutouts with five – including four in conference play. Naccari had 13 saves – the third-most in a single match in SCAC tournament history – in last weekend’s opening round 0-0 draw with Southwestern where the Pirates advanced on penalty kicks. She was named to the all-tournament team for her efforts. Naccari is the first University of Dallas player to earn SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year honors and the first goalkeeper since Trinity’s Katie Garrett was honored in 2012.
Naccari received three votes from the coaches in the Defensive Player-of-the-Year balloting while senior defender Emily Donnan of Trinity and first-year defender Lindsey Fitz of Schreiner received two votes each.
Kyli Harvey, a first-year forward from Cypress, Texas, leads all freshmen and is tied for fourth in the SCAC with seven goals scored. She also leads all first-year players with 17 points and was SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Week in Week 9. SCAC regular season and tournament champion Trinity allowed just two goals all season during conference play and Harvey had both of them. She is the second consecutive women’s soccer player from Schreiner to earn SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year recognition as her current teammate, Ruth Blackburn, was one of three players to earn Tri-Newcomer-of-the-Year honors last season.
Harvey received four votes in the Newcomer-of-the-Year voting while first-year forward Maddy Brown of Centenary College, first-year midfielder Chelsea Cole and first-year forward Kierstyn Luckock of Southwestern University received one vote each.
In his third season as head coach of the Mountaineers, Nick Morrison led Schreiner to an 11-6-2 overall mark – a six-game improvement from the previous season and the largest from one season to another in conference history since the 2002 University of the South-Sewanee women’s team produced the same six-game improvement. Schreiner also posted an 8-3-1 conference mark to earn the second seed at the 2015 SCAC Women’s Soccer Tournament. Under Morrison, the Mountaineers have seen their overall wins total improve from two games in 2013, to four games last season to the leap to 11 this year. It is the second consecutive year that Morrison has been recognized as SCAC Coach-of-the-Year as he shared the honor with Trinity head coach Lance Key and Dallas head coach Angelina Pane in 2014.
Morrison received four votes from his peers in the COTY voting while Trinity’s Key received three.
2015 SCAC Women’s Soccer Offensive Player-of-the-Year
Sioned Kirkpatrick, Texas Lutheran University, Sr., F, San Antonio, Texas
2015 SCAC Women’s Soccer Defensive Player-of-the-Year
Elena Naccari, University of Dallas, So., GK, Covington, La.
2015 SCAC Women’s Soccer Newcomer-of-the-Year
Kyli Harvey, Schreiner University, Fy., F, Cypress, Texas
2015 SCAC Women’s Soccer Coach-of-the-Year
Nick Morrison, Schreiner University, 8-3-1 SCAC (2nd place regular season / 11-6-2 overall)
2015 All-SCAC Women's Soccer First Team
Emily Donnan, Trinity University, Sr., D, Houston, Texas
Jordan Leeper, Trinity University, Jr., D, Austin, Texas
Lindsey Fitz, Schreiner University, Fy., D, Kingwood, Texas
Hannah Booher, Trinity University, So., D, Deer Park, Texas
Julia Camp, Trinity University, So., F, Houston, Texas
Hannah Hommel, Trinity University, Jr., F, Littleton, Colo.
Sioned Kirkpatrick, Texas Lutheran University, Sr., F, San Antonio, Texas
Kyli Harvey, Schreiner University, Fy., F, Cypress, Texas
Kimberly Polasek, Trinity University, Sr., M, Houston, Texas
Colleen Markey, Trinity University, So., M, Raleigh, N.C.
Yasmeen Farra, Trinity University, Jr., M, Austin, Texas
Kelly Lochte, Texas Lutheran University, Sr., M, New Braunfels, Texas
Elena Naccari, University of Dallas, So., GK, Covington, La.
2015 All-SCAC Women’s Soccer Second Team
Audrey Silver, Southwestern University, Jr., D, Dallas, Texas
Tara Armstrong, Texas Lutheran University, Jr., D, Lincoln, Calif.
Julia Kelly, Trinity University, So., D, Grand Island, N.Y.
Krystel Wolfe, Texas Lutheran University, Jr., D, San Antonio, Texas
Lauren Hood, University of Dallas, So., D, Bedford, Texas
Malorie Lara, Southwestern University, So., F, Austin, Texas
Mason Cosgrove, University of Dallas, Fy., F, Las Cruces, N.M.
Marissa Hughes, Centenary College, Jr., F, Richardson, Texas
Erin Eckart, Austin College, So., M, Norman, Okla.
Hayley Miesse, Southwestern University, Jr., M, Austin, Texas
Cascade Mayer, University of Dallas, Jr., M, Kapaa, Hawaii
Alex Gill, Schreiner University, So., M, Tomball, Texas
Delaney Morrow, Schreiner University, So., M, Houston, Texas
Janie Thompson, Trinity University, Jr., GK, Leawood, Kansas
2015 All-SCAC Women’s Soccer Honorable Mention
Ashley Foster, Schreiner University, So., D, Cypress, Texas
Ruth Blackburn, Schreiner University, So., F, Wylie, Texas
Brigitte Taylor, Trinity University, Jr., M, Tulsa, Okla.
Taylor Roberson, Schreiner University, Fy., GK, Portland, Texas
Erin Rose, Texas Lutheran University, Jr., GK, San Antonio, Texas
Note: Coaches voted for first team and second team – with each voted team consisting of three defenders, three midfielders, three forwards, one goalkeeper and one at-large selection. A first-team vote was worth two points and a second-team vote was worth one point. Any player who received at least two different votes from the coaches, but did not receive enough votes to earn either first or second team honors, was named Honorable Mention. Coaches could not vote for their own players.
