
(FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.) - The USA South Athletic Conference has announced its 2017 All-Conference awards for women's soccer. A total of 58 student-athletes have earned honors, as Maryville College placed seven Scots on the overall list.
MC's Bailey Sipos was named Rookie of the Year while earning First Team Overall and Western Division accolades. Also on the First Team Overall and Western Division list was Shannon Reagan, Hannah Clothier and Miranda Lukas.
Kelly Allen garnered First Team Western Division as a defender, as Abbie Anderson and Kara Tubb earned Second Team divisional accolades. Tubb was also named All-Sportsmanship.
Those seven Scots played a key role in MC's 2017 USA South Regular Season Championship.
"If you have that many players that are doing that well, it translates to wins," Head Coach Pepe Fernandez said. "This group of girls, they've been a whole lot of fun to coach. They've got a great energy about them in practice and in games. They've been fine playing ahead, and they've come from behind several times. They've really just been a lot of fun to be around."
Sipos, a freshman forward from Knoxville, Tennessee, becomes just the second Scot to be named USA South Rookie of the Year, joining Sierra Siegel (2012). She currently leads all rookies in goals scored (14) and points (31) which each rank tied for third and fourth among all USA South performers, respectively.
"She's very deserving of the award," Fernandez said. "The things that I think she's done very well is that she's been able to have a combination of speed and skill. Along with her strong shot, she's really been tough to defend. She's also picked up quite a few assists, so it's not like she's a selfish or individual player. She's able to get the players involved around her, too. It's going to go down as one of best freshman seasons we've seen, ever, at Maryville, and definitely one of the best in a long while."
In USA South-only contests, Sipos notched five goals, two of which were game-winners tying her for the League-high. She was named First Team All-Conference, as well as First Team West Division this fall as a forward. Finally, Sipos collected USA South Player of the Week once and Rookie of the Week accolades twice this season.
Piedmont College's Cassidy Reich was named Player of the Year, while Salem College's Jay Callahan earned Coach of the Year honors to round out the individual accolades. Additionally, the USA South recognized an All-Sportsmanship Team, consisting of one member from each competing school.
All awards are voted on by the women's soccer coach at each institution. The divisional team voting is completed only by those coaches in the particular division. The all-conference and individual award voting is completed by all coaches.
Reich, a Largo, Florida junior forward, collects her second-career USA South Player of the Year honor after she received both the top honor and Rookie of the Year accolades in 2015. For the year, Reich currently ranks tied for third in the League with 14 goals, first with ten assists and second with 38 points while her five game-winning goals top all USA South performers. In USA South-contests alone, Reich led the Conference with eight goals and 19 points. For her efforts this season, Reich was named First Team All-Conference, as well as First Team West Division as a forward. This is her second-career first team all-conference and first top all-division team honor as she was second team all-division a year ago. Finally, she was selected as USA South Player of the Week twice this season.
Callahan, in his 12th season as the head of the Spirits, earns his first-career USA South Women's Soccer Coach of the Year award. He was a four-time coach of the year in the Great South Athletic Conference and becomes the first Salem head coach in any sport to capture coach of the year honors in the USA South. This season, Callahan led his team to its second consecutive USA South Regular Season Division Championship, this year in the East while last year's was in the West. Salem currently sports a 13-3-0 overall record and compiled a 6-1-0 Conference mark. Callahan now takes his team into the USA South Women's Soccer Tournament as the East Division's top seed.
The 2017 USA South Women's Soccer All-Conference Team:
First Team All-Conference |
First Team East Division |
Second Team East Division |
First Team West Division |
Second Team West Division |
Forward |
Forward |
Forward |
Forward |
All-Sportsmanship |