LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – In exclusive voting by the head women’s soccer coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), Trinity University’s Kaity Ward was selected SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Year while University of Dallas’ May Lien Le was named SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year. Complete Release
In the same balloting, Kelly Wolfe of Texas Lutheran University was tabbed the league’s Newcomer-of-the-Year while Bulldogs’ head coach Larry Schaffer was named SCAC Coach-of-the-Year.
A junior midfielder from Phoenix, Ariz., Ward displayed a historic scoring touch despite a shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading the conference in nearly offensive statistical category. Playing in just nine games, Ward led the SCAC in points (30), goals (13), points-per-game (3.33), goals-per-game (1.44) and shots on goal (30). She finished tied for first in game-winning goals with four and tied for second in assists with four. Her 1.44 goals-per-game average matches the single greatest mark in SCAC history, tying Centre’s Sara Morgan who set the current standard during her record-breaking 1998 season. A three-time SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Week during the season, Ward scored a goal in eight of her nine games and recorded multi-goal efforts in five fixtures. Most recently, she scored five goals during the Tigers’ three-game run to the SCAC title last month, equaling the single tournament record for goals scored. Ward’s 3.33 points-per-game average ranks second all-time in league history to Morgan’s 3.56 accomplished during her historic ’98 season. Ward recorded at least one point in every match, becoming just the fifth player in SCAC history to finish a season averaging over 3.00 points-per-game and the first since 1998. Ward’s selection as SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Year represents the 14th time a Trinity student-athlete has won the award and the eight time in the last 10 years.
Ward received six votes in the balloting for Offensive Player-of-the-Year honors while junior midfielder Gabby McDonald of Centenary and senior midfielder Maya Fuller of Southwestern received one vote each.
May Lien Le, a junior defender from Katy, Texas, led a Dallas defensive effort that allowed just three goals during conference play – a mark that tied for the third fewest in the SCAC. She anchored a defensive line that boasted a 0.83 goals-against-average during conference action (tied for third-best in the league), posted three shutouts in conference play and four clean sheets overall. Down the stretch, Lien Le led a back four that allowed just two goals in the Crusaders’ final four games – including two shutouts – leading up to their second appearance in the SCAC title game last month. Offensively, she delivered the game-winning assist in Dallas’ quarterfinal victory against St. Thomas to spark the Crusaders’ title match run. Lien Le is the second Dallas Crusader to be recognized as SCAC Player-of-the-Year, joining Elena Naccari who won the award in 2015.
Lien Le received four votes from the coaches in the Defensive Player-of-the-Year balloting while sophomore defender Bailey Meyer of Trinity received two first-place votes. Junior goalkeeper Meredith Harris of Austin College and junior defender Sam Davis of Southwestern split the remaining two first-place votes.
Kelly Wolfe, a first-year midfielder from San Antonio, Texas, made an immediate impact in Seguin her rookie year, starting all 11 games for the Bulldogs. She finished the season with two goals (tied for 10th in the SCAC; tied for second on team), four points (tied for 18th in the SCAC; tied for second on team), 10 shots on goal (tied for 11th in the SCAC; tied for third on team) and one game-winning goal which was tied for eighth in the SCAC and tied for the Bulldog lead. Her game-winning goal came in TLU’s, 1-0, win at Schreiner on April 10, the final game of the regular season. Texas Lutheran posted a perfect 2-0 record in fixtures that Wolfe found the back of the net. Wolfe is the second Texas Lutheran player to be recognized as SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year, joining Zoe Gulick who was honored in 2014.
Wolfe received four first-place votes in the Newcomer-of-the-Year selection process, narrowly out-balloting first-year goalkeeper Johnna Cambell of Southwestern and first-year defender Kyra Stafford of Trinity, who received two votes each. First-year midfielder Avery Seaman of Dallas picked up the remaining first-place vote.
In his ninth season at the helm of the Texas Lutheran program, Larry Schaffer led the Bulldogs to a 4-6-1 overall mark, including a 3-3-1 record in SCAC play. TLU earned the No. 5 seed in the SCAC Tournament and won its first tournament game since 2017, advancing into the semifinals under the guidance of Schaffer. After posting a .313 win percentage in league action last season, Schaffer led his program to a .500 winning percentage this season, marking an 18.7 percent improvement from a year ago. It was the greatest percentage improvement for any SCAC program from a season ago. The SCAC Coach-of-the-Year honor is the first for Schaffer, who is now 44-32-12 in his nine seasons in the conference
To view the entire 2020-21 All-SCAC Women's Soccer Team, click here.
