HFU's Brianna Rock Wins 2nd-Straight CACC WSOC POY Award; All-CACC Teams Announced
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (October 31, 2017) -- Holy Family University women's soccer standout Brianna Rock on Tuesday was named the 2017 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Player of the Year, as announced by Commissioner Dan Mara. It marks the second-consecutive year Rock was named the CACC women's soccer top player, as voted on by the league's 13 head coaches in the sport. In addition to garnering the major honor, Rock was also named to the All-CACC First Team as a forward.
Rock was not the only student-athlete to garner a major award from the conference on Tuesday, as Georgian Court University's Morgan LaDuca was named the 2017 CACC Defensive Player of the Year for the second time in as many seasons. Goldey-Beacom College's Alanna Speaks was named the CACC Rookie of the Year, while Wilmington University goalie Kierstyn Williams was named the inaugural winner of the CACC Goalkeeper-of-the-Year honor. GCU head coach Jim Moore was also tabbed as the CACC Women's Soccer Coach of the Year.
With Tuesday's honor, Rock definitely takes her place as one of the finest players in conference history with her back-to-back player-of-the-year awards. She led the CACC in points (39) during the regular season, while ranking second with 15 goals. Her 87 shots also paced the conference. Rock booted home four winning goals during the campaign to help guide the Tigers to a third-place finish in the regular season standings and the No. 3 seed in this week's CACC Women's Soccer Championship tournament, which gets underway on Tuesday with the quarterfinals. Holy Family will play host to sixth-seeded and defending conference champ Caldwell University at 2 p.m.
Speaks had a sensational debut season for G-B, as she posted 12 goals and four assists for 28 points. Her goal total was the third highest in the league, while her points were the fourth most. Speaks totaled two game-winning goals on the season, and for her efforts, joined Rock on the All-CACC First Team at forward.
LaDuca garnered another top defensive player award for her outstanding play from the back line this season, as she helped guide Georgian Court to the CACC Regular Season Championship with a perfect 12-0 conference mark. She anchored a defensive unit that posted five shutouts on the year, while also chipping in offensively with four markers. LaDuca gained a spot on the All-CACC First Team at defender.
Williams collected the first goalkeeper award handed out in conference history, as she was a brick wall in goal all season long for the Wildcats, who finished second in the league. She went 10-5-1 in net, while posting a 1.31 goals against average and an .806 save percentage. Williams led the league with six shutouts, while her wins and save percentage were second best in the CACC and her GAA was third lowest. Like the three previous major award winners mentioned, Williams also locked up a spot on the All-CACC First Team.
Moore collected the coach-of-the-year accolade after leading the Lions to an undefeated mark in league play, as Georgian Court claimed its second-consecutive CACC regular season title. Overall, GCU went 13-3-2 during the regular season.
The other major award handed out on Tuesday was Nyack College winning the 2017 CACC Women's Soccer Team Sportsmanship Award for demonstrating outstanding character and commitment during the season.
2017 CACC WOMEN'S SOCCER PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Brianna Rock (Holy Family University)
2017 CACC WOMEN'S SOCCER ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Alanna Speaks (Goldey-Beacom College)
2017 CACC WOMEN'S SOCCER DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Morgan LaDuca (Georgian Court University)
2017 CACC WOMEN'S SOCCER GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR
Kierstyn Williams (Wilmington University)
2017 CACC WOMEN'S SOCCER COACH OF THE YEAR
Jim Moore (Georgian Court University)
2017 CACC WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD
Nyack College
2017 CACC WOMEN'S SOCCER ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM
F Lizzy Kroon (Georgian Court University)
F Brianna Rock (Holy Family University)
F Alanna Speaks (Goldey-Beacom College)
F Loran Wyrough (Wilmington University)
M Anissia Fucci (Georgian Court University)
M Kaitlin Lister (Georgian Court University)
M Amy Runciman (Goldey-Beacom College)
D Melissa Gall (Wilmington University)
D Morgan LaDuca (Georgian Court University)
D Katharina Mertz (Post University)
GK Kierstyn Williams (Wilmington University)
2017 CACC WOMEN'S SOCCER ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM
F Teaghan Darling (Caldwell University)
F Sarah Patrignani (Thomas Jefferson University)
F Preslie Quaranta (Wilmington University)
M Rebecca Dolhansky (Wilmington University)
M Meghan Grundhauser (Caldwell University)
M Shannon Metzler (Holy Family University)
D Taylor Adair (Holy Family University)
D Tanner Turner-Rush (Goldey-Beacom College)
D Kiya Wilson (Wilmington University)
GK Natalie Axelsson (Georgian Court University)
GK Emily Camp (Holy Family University)
All of the honorees will be recognized at the 2017 CACC Soccer Championship Banquet on Thursday night on the eve of the 2017 CACC Men's and Women's Soccer Championship Semifinals in Lakewood, N.J.
ABOUT THE CACC
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference composed of 14 institutions in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. The member institutions are Bloomfield College, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Concordia (N.Y.) College, Dominican (N.Y.) College, Felician University, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Thomas Jefferson University, Nyack College, Post University of Waterbury, University of the Sciences, and Wilmington University.