This is a Conference USA press release.
Conference USA announced the 2020 C-USA Women’s Soccer Superlative Awards along with the league’s All-Conference and All-Freshman teams, and West Division champion Rice led the league with three superlative award winners and five honorees, while East Division champion WKU had a pair of superlative winners and five honorees.
A total of 13 programs are represented on the awards list this season. All awards are voted on by the league’s 14 head coaches.
The C-USA Superlative Awards were given to WKU midfielder Ambere Barnett, who was selected as the C-USA Player of the Year and Midfielder of the Year, Southern Miss forward Ariel Diaz (Offensive Player of the Year), Rice’s Mijke Roelfsema (Defensive Player of the Year), Rice’s Bella Killgore (Goalkeeper of the Year), Marshall midfielder Abi Hugh (Freshman of the Year) and Rice’s Brian Lee (Coach of the Year).
Barnett, a junior, was second in C-USA in points per game (1.56), tied for second in goals per game (0.67), tied for third in the league in points (14) and goals (six) and tied for fifth in shots per game (2.89). In C-USA games, Barnett scored five goals and added one assist for 11 points in six C-USA games, and scored a pair of game-winning goals.
Diaz, a senior, scored five goals in nine overall games, tallied three goals in C-USA games and led Southern Miss in shots taken with 21 for the season. She had three game-winning goals overall, including two in C-USA action. Diaz was a two-time C-USA Offensive Player of the Week during the spring season. She also had a pair of multi-goal games and two four-point games.
Roelfsema is a veteran defender who rarely came off the field and who played almost 98 percent of Rice’s total time in C-USA matches. The senior helped limit opponents to 12.3 total shots per game in conference action as she usually covered the opposing team’s top offensive player and was a key reason for the Owls’ seven shutouts overall. She scored two goals and added one assist in C-USA games, and finished with two goals and two assists overall. Roelfsema was C-USA Defensive Player of the Week on March 23.
Killgore, a two-time C-USA Goalkeeper of the Week, led the league in shutouts with seven overall in 12 games and four in the six C-USA regular season matchups as part of her 0.74 goals against average (GAA). She was second in saves with 45 overall, including 26 in conference play. The senior also came forward to take free kicks on offense, and she scored three goals – all game winners, which tied for the team lead.
Hugh led the Herd and tied for the C-USA overall lead with eight goals in 10 games, and also led the league in goals per game (0.80) and points per game (1.60). She took 23 shots overall, with 15 on goal, and she was credited with three game-winning goals, which led Marshall. Hugh had three multi-goal games, including a hat trick against West Virginia Tech.
Lee earned his first C-USA Coach of the Year award after leading the Owls to the C-USA West Division title with a 5-1 conference record as part of a 10-2 overall mark. Lee had five All-Conference and All-Freshman players on the squad, including Defensive Player of the Year Mijke Roelfsema and Goalkeeper of the Year Bella Killgore. The Owls were second in overall goals among C-USA teams with 29, and tied for the league lead in least goals allowed with nine in 12 games.
Barnett, Diaz, Roelfsema and Killgore were all part of the First Team All-Conference USA squad. Joining them were defenders Brooke Lampe (North Texas) and Avery Jacobsen (WKU), midfielders Julia Patrum (Charlotte), Gi Krstec (Florida Atlantic) and Ece Turkoglu (Old Dominion) and forwards Peyton DePriest (Middle Tennessee) and Allie Byrd (North Texas).
Lampe, the leader of the Mean Green defense as a senior at centerback, played every minute of the nine games she participated in this season and helped hold opponents to just nine goals against Marshall all season. Jacobsen, a senior, was part of the defensive spine that helped WKU to the East Division title as the Lady Toppers allowed only 11 goals overall and just seven in C-USA games.
Patrum, a sophomore, led the 49ers in scoring overall with four goals and two assists for 10 points which all came in C-USA action. The C-USA Offensive Player of the Week for March 2 had a two-goal game against Old Dominion. Krstec led Florida Atlantic with 21 shots overall and had a goal and two assists on the season, all in C-USA league games. The redshirt junior started all 10 games for the Owls and played 93 percent of possible minutes. Turkoglu, a sophomore holding midfielder for Old Dominion, tied for the team lead in goals with two, one of which was a game-winner and was tied for the Monarchs’ team lead in points in C-USA games (four).
DePriest, the NCAA active career leader in goals with 46, led Middle Tennessee with four goals and eight points in six games. The senior, who was the 2019 C-USA Player of the Year, took 16 shots, half of which were on goal (eight) and was tied for second in goals per game among C-USA players at 0.67. Byrd led the league in shots per game (4.10) as she tied for the team lead with three goals and led the Mean Green in points (eight). The sophomore posted two goals and one assist for five points in C-USA games.
The coaches also selected Second Team and Third Team All-Conference squads and an All-Freshman Team.
The 2020 C-USA Women’s Soccer Championship commences with four quarterfinal games Tuesday, April 13 at Holloway Field on the campus of Rice University in Houston Texas. Charlotte, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Old Dominion, Rice, Southern Miss, UAB and WKU will battle it out in the eight-team championship. The semifinal round will be played Thursday, April 15, and the C-USA championship game is scheduled for Sunday, April 17 at 12 p.m. CT. All matches of the league’s 26th championship will be streamed on ESPN+.
2020 C-USA Women’s Soccer All-Conference Award Winners
Player of the Year
Ambere Barnett, WKU
Offensive Player of the Year
Ariel Diaz, Southern Miss
Defensive Player of the Year
Mijke Roelfsema, Rice
Midfielder of the Year
Ambere Barnett, WKU
Goalkeeper of the Year
Bella Killgore, Rice
Freshman of the Year
Abi Hugh, Marshall
Coach of the Year
Brian Lee, Rice
All-Conference USA First Team
GK: Bella Kilgore, Rice
D: Brooke Lampe, North Texas
D: Mijke Roelfsema, Rice
D: Avery Jacobsen, WKU
MF: Julia Patrum, Charlotte
MF: Gi Krstec, Florida Atlantic
MF: Ece Turkoglu, Old Dominion
MF: Ambere Barnett, WKU
F: Peyton DePriest, Middle Tennessee
F: Allie Byrd, North Texas
F: Ariel Diaz, Southern Miss
All-Conference USA Second Team
GK: Abby Stapleton, Charlotte
D: Meredith Hamby, Charlotte
D: Amanda Martin, Florida Atlantic
D: Elizabeth Doll, Louisiana Tech
D: Emily Roberts, Old Dominion
D: Lyric Schmidt, WKU
MF: Delaney Schultz, Rice
MF: Jennyfer Caracheo, Southern Miss
MF: Stella Kiss, UAB
F: Miracle Porter, Florida Atlantic
F: Haley Kostyshyn, Rice
F: Lexxe Lipsey, UAB
All-Conference USA Third Team
GK: Kelsey Brann, North Texas
D: Josie Studer, Louisiana Tech
D: Caitlin Pierce, Southern Miss
D: Macie Pennington, Southern Miss
MF: Sammy Vitols, Florida Atlantic
MF: Abi Hugh, Marshall
MF: Michelle Gonzalez, North Texas
MF: Cayman Tamez, UTEP
F: Michaella Arteta, Charlotte
F: Tessa Carlin, UTEP
F: Ellis Patterson, UTSA
C-USA All-Freshman Team
Piper Biziorek, F, Charlotte
Amit Cohen, GK, Florida Atlantic
Abi Hugh, MF, Marshall
Alexandra Goffi, D, Middle Tennessee
Madi Starrett, D, North Texas
Ryan Parncutt, D, Old Dominion
Mikala Furuto, MF, Rice
Blessing Kingsley, F, Southern Miss
Laura Zemberyova, F, UAB
Cayman Tamez, MF, MF, UTEP
Ellie Belcher, D, WKU
Brina Micheels, F, WKU
