Jaguar Soccer Sweeps SBC Individual Awards, Places 7 On All-SBC Teams
Freshman Charde Hannah became the second Jaguar and second SBC player ever to win both Freshman of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year awards in the same season. Photo: usajaguars.com
South Alabama women’s soccer team dominance in conference play has yielded them a sweep of the individual awards and seven players named to the All-Sun Belt Conference teams at annual SBC Awards Banquet on Tuesday. The Jags set new records with seven student-athletes earning spots on the All-SBC teams, they also set a record with five student-athletes earning first-team recognition. Additionally, USA becomes the first school in conference history to outright sweep the major individual awards.
Freshman Charde Hannah received both the league’s Offensive and Freshman of the Year awards. Junior Nini Rabsatt-Smith earned the Defensive Player of the Year award and head Coach Graham Winkworth was awarded the Sun Belt Coach of the Year.
The Jaguars had five players on the All-SBC First-Team, a new school record, which included Hannah, Rabsatt-Smith, Rio Hardy, Sophie Haywood and Steffi Hardy. They also had Monique Autmon and Danielle Henley who were named to the All-SBC Second-Team.
Hannah makes the second consecutive Jaguar player to win both the freshman and player of the year awards in the same season. Lauren Allison accomplished the feat in 2013. Prior to Hannah and Allison, no SBC school has ever claimed both the freshman and player of the year in the same season.
Hannah, a freshman from Tupelo, Mississippi, lead the conference in points (2.16), goals per game (0.89), second in game-winning goals (5) and is tied for fifth in assists per game (0.37). She ranks seventh nationally in goals and eighth in points while also being first among all Division I freshmen in both categories.
She was named SBC Offensive Player of the Week three times, including after tying a school record with four goals against Francis Marion. She ranks second in school history with 17 goals this season and fifth with 41 points.
Rabsatt-Smith leads a defense that is first in the conference in goals against average and goals allowed and second with 10 shutouts. She has five goals and 12 points on the season including accounting for both goals in a 2-1 overtime win against Appalachian State and the match winning goal against Southern Miss.
Rio Hardy, a freshman from Workington, England, is tied for second in the conference in assists per game (0.42), and ranks third in both goals (0.53) and points per game (1.47). She has also scored at least one point in eight of her last nine Conference outings and either a goal or an assist in each of her first six outings. She also has two match-winning goals on her resume for the season.
Haywood, a freshman from Hull, England, recorded two assists in her first collegiate game then added a hat-trick against Southern Miss two games later. She is seventh in the conference in points per game (1.12) and eighth in total goals (7). She scored the match-winning goal against Troy in their conference opener then scored a brace against Alabama A&M.
Steffi Hardy, a freshman from Workington, England, has played the second-most minutes on the team (1,613) and has 18 starts. She has scored four goals, two of them match winners, and has played a key role in USA’s 10 shutouts this season.
Autmon, a junior from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, edges out Steffi Hardy for the most minutes of any Jaguar player with 1,623 at her defensive midfield spot. She has started 18 of 19 matches.
Henley, a freshman from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, leads the team with 17 points and tied for fifth in goals. She scored a brace in her second career game against Nicholls State then had a goal and an assist in her next game against Tennessee Tech. She scored the match-winning goal against Nicholls State and assisted on two other match-winners against Tennessee Tech and Francis Marion.
South Alabama (16-2-1, 8-0-1 SBC, #1 Seed) will begin the defense of their Sun Belt Conference Tournament title tonight in a rematch of the final regular season game when they face Arkansas-Little Rock (11-7-1, 2-6-1, #8 seed) at 7pm at The Cage.
Below are the full SBC Conference Teams and Individual Award Recipients:
2014 SBC First Team All-Conference
- Chardé Hannah (South Alabama, Freshman, Forward)
- Rio Hardy (South Alabama, Freshman, Forward)
- Lynsey Curry (Texas State, Junior, Forward)
- Nora El-Shami (Georgia Southern, Junior, Midfielder)
- Sophie Haywood (South Alabama, Freshman, Midfielder)
- Alissa Jones (Troy, Junior Midfielder)
- Grace Howell-Harries (UL Lafayette, Senior, Defender)
- Steffi Hardy (South Alabama, Freshman, Defender)
- Nini Rabsatt-Smith (South Alabama, Junior, Defender)
- Georgia Wallis (Troy, Senior, Defender)
- Katie Merson (Georgia Southern, R-Senior, Goalkeeper)
2014 SBC Second Team All-Conference
- Fali Garuba (UALR, Freshman, Forward)
- Melinda Lukas (Georgia Southern, Sophomore, Forward)
- Whitney Ravan (Georgia State, Senior, Forward)
- Chelsey Williams (Troy, Junior, Forward)
- Kimberly Grasso (UL Lafayette, Sophomore, Midfielder)
- Monique Autmon (South Alabama, Sophomore, Midfielder)
- Danielle Henley (South Alabama, Freshman, Midfielder)
- Jenna Moore (Georgia State, Junior, Defender)
- Elizabeth Havenhill (Texas State, Freshman, Defender)
- Payton Donley (Troy, Junior, Defender)
- Mikki Lewis (Troy, Freshman, Goalkeeper)
2014 SBC Offensive Player of the Year
Chardé Hannah (South Alabama, Freshman, Forward)
2014 SBC Defensive Player of the Year
Nini Rabsatt-Smith (South Alabama, Junior, Defender)
2014 SBC Freshman of the Year
Chardé Hannah (South Alabama, Freshman, Forward)
2014 SBC Coach of the Year
Graham Winkworth, South Alabama