CCU

Women's Soccer Earns Player, Scholar-Athlete of the Year; Five Selected to the All-Big South Teams at Tournament Banquet

           

Women's Soccer Earns Player, Scholar-Athlete of the Year; Five Selected to the All-Big South Teams at Tournament Banquet

HIGH POINT, N.C. -- The Coastal Carolina Unviersity women’s soccer team had six players on the All-Big South first and second teams and the All-Freshman Team as well as Player of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors, it was announced Nov. 5 at the Big South Tournament banquet in High Point, N.C.   Senior Ashleigh Gunning (Baton Rouge, La./Magnet (LSU)) was named the Big South Player of the Year for the second straight season, while classmate Emily McColl (Wellington, New Zealand/Hutt Valley) earned the Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Gunning and McColl were named to the First Team, while juniors Sarah McPartlan (Crystal Lake, Ill./Prairie Ridge (Loyola Ill.)) and Maegen Hellberg (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) and sophomore Anna Tupy (Alexandria, Va./Thomas Edison) were Second Team selections. Freshman Marissa Terry (Charleston, S.C./James Island) was named to the league’s All-Freshman Team.   Gunning is the Big South’s second-ever back-to-back Player of the Year, joining Radford’s Nikki Porter (2002 and 2003) on that prestigious list. It also is Gunning’s third time on the All-Big South first team. The senior leads the team and is tied for third in the conference with eight goals, including four game-winning tallies. She had both goals in the 2-1 win over Gardner-Webb Sept. 27 and had the game-winner in the 1-0 win over VMI Oct. 24. Gunning was the Big South Player of the Week Oct. 28 and was an ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-District. She had the third goal in the 3-2 win over UNC Asheville Oct. 7 and had a goal in the 2-2 tie against High Point Nov. 1.   McColl is Coastal Carolina’s third Big South Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Candice Doten earned the honor in both 2002 and 2003. She has a 3.985 grade-point average in biology and was an ESPN The Magazine First Team Academic All-District. McColl was one of 30 semifinalists for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award. She has played and started in all 18 games, scoring six goals and adding two assists for 14 points. McColl has three game-winning goals in wins over Wofford, The Citadel and Radford. She was named to the All-Tournament Teams at both the Select Kickoff Classic and the Winthrop Invitational. McColl had multi-goal games against Wofford and The Citadel and added a goal in the 2-1 win over East Carolina Sept. 21. McColl was an All-Big South second team honoree in 2007.   McPartlan has played in all 18 games for the Chanticleers. She started as a forward but has moved to the backfield in the last month. She is tied for second on the team with four assists. That also is tied for ninth in the Big South in assists. She had an assist in the 3-2 win over UNC Asheville Oct. 7 and assisted on the game-winning goal against East Carolina Sept. 21.    Hellberg earns her second straight All-Big South second team honor. She has played and started in all 18 games for the Chanticleers and has a goal and three assists for five points on the year. She has helped the Coastal Carolina defense to five shutouts on the season. She scored a goal in the 5-0 win over USC Upstate Oct. 30 and had assists in conference wins over Gardner-Webb and High Point. She also had an assist in the 4-1 win over The Citadel Sept. 14.   Tupy earns All-Big South second team honors after being named to the All-Freshman Team last year. She has played and started in all 18 games for the Chanticleers and has scored four goals, three of which were game-winning tallies. She had her first multi-goal game in the 5-0 win over USC Upstate Oct. 30. She had the game-winning goal with 14 seconds remaining in the 3-2 win over Liberty Oct. 3 and had the first goal in the win over Presbyterian Sept. 24. Tupy was named to the All-Tournament Teams at the Select Kickoff Classic and the Winthrop Invitational.   Terry has played in 17 games in the backfield for the Chanticleers, starting Coastal Carolina’s last five contests. She scored her first career goal in the 4-1 win over Austin Peay Sept. 19 and has helped the Chanticleers to five shutouts on the year. Terry is Coastal Carolina’s fifth All-Freshman Team selection in the last three years.   Coastal Carolina also received the Big South regular-season championship trophy at the banquet. It is the second straight regular-season title for the Chants and the third in program history.   In other specialty awards, VMI’s Olivia Moore was named the Freshman of the Year, while the Keydets’ Bryan Williams was the Coach of the Year.   Coastal Carolina has the top seed in the 2008 Big South Women’s Soccer Championships and faces eighth-seeded Gardner-Webb Thursday, Nov. 6 at 4 p.m., in the quarterfinals on the campus of High Point University.