Eagles sweep SAC yearly honors, place six on all-conference teams
ROCK HILL, S.C. – The South Atlantic Conference regular season champions Carson-Newman swept the yearly honors bestowed by the league on Wednesday as junior forward Julianne Herrity (Donegal, Ireland) was named the conference’s Player of the Year, Varin Ness (Sogndal, Norway) picked up Freshman of the Year accolades and coach Richard Moodie was garnered Coach of the Year as the Eagles finished 10-1 in SAC play during the year.
Varin Ness Interview
ROCK HILL, S.C. – The South Atlantic Conference regular season champions Carson-Newman swept the yearly honors bestowed by the league on Wednesday as junior forward Julianne Herrity (Donegal, Ireland) was named the conference's Player of the Year, Varin Ness (Sogndal, Norway) picked up Freshman of the Year accolades and coach Richard Moodie was garnered Coach of the Year as the Eagles finished 10-1 in SAC play during the year.
Herrity's Player of the Year award is the fourth by a Carson-Newman player and the first by an Eagle since Rebecca Angus picked up her second such award in 2006. Ness is the third Freshman of the Year in C-N history after Claire Ramsdale in 2003 and Lauren Mackenzie in 2008 were granted the honor. Moodie picks up the school's fifth Coach of the Year award and becomes just the second-ever recipient as Phil McNamara was a four-time Coach of the Year, last receiving the award in 2009.
Herrity and Ness were joined by freshman midfielder Heida Ragney (Akureyri, Iceland) on the league's first-team, junior defender Megan Peterson (Parrish, Fla.) and senior Nikki McWilliams (Saintfield, Northern Ireland) picked up second-team honors and junior defender Elissa Lane (Knoxville, Tenn.) was named Honorable Mention All-SAC.
The six players on the 2015 teams are the second-most in school history and the most for Carson-Newman since placing seven on the team since 2009.
Herrity ranked fourth in the regular season with 14 goals 30 points and the junior added two assists on the year. She was tied for the conference lead 75 shots recorded on the year and led the conference with six game-winning goals. In conference play, the Ireland-native ranked second with 11 goals and 24 points. She is currently tied for second in school history with six game-winning goals in a year and is one off the pace of record-holder Trenna Howell. Herrity recorded four multi-goal performances, which three happened against SAC opponents.
"Julianne Herrity, to make a comparison to the history of our program, we had a couple of girls who played here that were All-American candidates, Becky Angus and Claire Ramsdale, Julianne Herrity is the closest player we've ever had to those two ladies. She can take the game by the scruff of the neck, even when she is having a bad day, she still comes up with the goods. A perfect example of that would be the Young Harris game; she wasn't on her best game there but still managed to find the back of the net two times," Moodie said. "Overall, just the best player in the league to me: the biggest impact on the field, off the field and just a huge asset for us as we've climbed the table from last-place to first."
Ness is second on the team with 11 goals, which tied for sixth in the SAC, and was tied for second amongst the Eagles with four assists. Ness recorded at least one point in each of her first four matches in the Orange and Blue. She was tied second-team forward Charlotte Ring from Queens in goal scoring by freshmen. Ness scored the lone goal for the Eagles in the SAC Tournament quarterfinal win over LMU with a free kick goal in the 59th-minute.
"She was undoubtedly to me, there were some good freshmen in our conference, but I thought she was the best. We missed her for the first few games due to eligibility, but we got her ready to; she scored her first goal 40 seconds into her Carson-Newman career. Great player. She's had some massive moments and this is the first year we've had two players contribute 10-goals plus in a while," Moodie said.
Ragney led the SAC with eight assists as a defensive midfielder and took the league crown for assist per game with an average of 0.47. As a freshman, Ragney has started every contest for the Eagles. Against Catawba on Oct. 10th, she recorded the first assist hat-trick since 2005 as Carson-Newman won 4-0. She also contributed assists against Alabama-Huntsville, Mars Hill, Anderson, Young Harris and Coker. Ragney also played as a key contributor in the C-N defensive formation as a freshman.
"She is a player I'm glad got on the first team, because the role that she plays on our team doesn't really produce stats or the recognition that players that role around the conference would get. She's a defensive center-mid, kind of just sits in the pocket, gets on the ball, shifts the ball," Moodie said. "It's difficult to get recognized, but what she does off the ball and on the ball, she breaks the game up. Week in, week out, I think she's been the most-consistent player and definitely one that is deserving of the accolade."
McWilliams and Peterson made their debuts on the postseason teams as members of the second-team. McWilliams tallied seven goals and two assists in 18 starts. She scored both goals against the Queens (N.C.) Royals on Sept. 27th in the Eagles' 2-1 win. She also had two goals against Catawba and registered scores against Alabama-Huntsville, Lincoln Memorial and Tusculum. Peterson appeared in every regular season contest and recorded career-highs in goals and assists with three scores and two contributions. Peterson scored her first goal in two seasons against Alabama-Huntsvile; the junior defender scored the game-winning goal at King (Tenn.) and also tallied against Coker on Oct. 31st. Peterson contributed two assists against Newberry on Sept. 19th.
"Nikki McWilliams, to me, this has been her best season. We only got her for two seasons, but Nikki has came in and this year, she's really matured as an individual, on and off the field. She's a candidate for Academic All-District. She's help nurture the freshmen and she's been significant in the success in the season," Moodie said. "Megan is one of the better centerbacks in the league. She's played every minute of the season, one of the few girls for us that has done that. You can see why in her performances. She's one of those players that can have an impact on the game going forward. She's scored a couple of goals and dangerous on set pieces. Whenever there is a problem in the back-four, I can usually lend on her and I can yell at her to fix the problem and I know she can use her leadership to fix the problem."
Lane set a career-high for games played in a season with her start against Lincoln Memorial in the SAC Tournament quarterfinals. She also tallied her first-career point with an assist on the game-winning goal against Newberry. The junior also assisted goals against Mars Hill and King.
"I think, if she could press forward a little bit more as a fullback, she would be definitely be first or second-team All-Conference. When she does, she's dangerous. Consistency has always been her big thing and she's been working really hard this year and you see it pays off," Moodie said.
Lenoir-Rhyne, who tied for the third in the conference, led the league with five players named to the first-team. The Wingate Bulldogs tied with Carson-Newman with three players on the top-team, while Anderson and Queens each placed one player.
Queens led the league with eight All-Conference honorees, while the six Eagles ranked second. Anderson, Lenoir-Rhyne and Wingate tied for third with five players spread throughout the list.
First Team All-Conference
F – Julianne Herrity, Carson-Newman
F – Idoia Agirre, Anderson
F – Leah Mullins, Lenoir-Rhyne
F – Garcelle Alequine, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF – Emmi Dunn, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF – Kaitlyn Brunworth, Wingate
MF – Varin Ness, Carson-Newman
MF – Heida Ragney, Carson-Newman
D – Macy Franklin, Wingate
D – Amber Madriaga, Lenoir-Rhyne
D – Brianna Belsky, Lenoir-Rhyne
D – Mariah Lewis, Queens
GK – Alexis Jones, Wingate
Second Team All-Conference
F – Michelle Calmeyn, Newberry
F – Charlotte Ring, Queens
F – Nikki McWilliams, Carson-Newman
F – Taylor Lewis, Tusculum
MF – Katja Andersson, Tusculum
MF – Mariana Poveda, Anderson
MF – Guadalupe Magana, Newberry
MF – Kathy Fisher, Queens
D – Faith Johannes, Anderson
D – Megan Peterson, Carson-Newman
D – Ashley Osiecki, Queens
D – Mackenzie Cherniuk, Wingate
GK – Tori Danchak, Queens
Honorable Mention All-Conference
F – Anna Vig, Coker
F – Kenzie Van Heusen, Anderson
F – Kimmi Moore, Wingate
F – Olivia Thompson, Lincoln Memorial
MF – Alana Jefferson, Queens
MF – Megan Foster, Anderson
MF – Caitlyn Rodrigues, Queens
MF – Alex Hulsey, Catawba
D – Olivia Kilgore, Tusculum
D – Shelby Osiecki, Queens
D – Elissa Lane, Carson-Newman
D – Valeria Newcomb, Newberry
GK – Angelica Pawlowski, Catawba
Soccer Player of the Year
Julianne Herrity, F, Carson-Newman
Freshman of the Year
Varin Ness, Carson-Newman
Coach of the Year
Richard Moodie, Carson-Newman
Goals per Match: Idoia Agirre, Anderson (1.18)
Points per Match: Idoia Agirre, Anderson (2.76)
Assists per Match: Heida Ragney, Carson-Newman (0.47)
Goals Against Average: Alexis Jones, Wingate (0.256)
Save Percentage: Alexis Jones, Wingate (0.918)
Shutouts: Alexis Jones, Wingate (8)
Team Points per Match: Anderson (8.47)
Team Goals per Match: Anderson (3.06)
Team Assists per Match: Anderson (2.35)
Team Shutouts: Lenoir-Rhyne/Wingate (10)
Team Goals Against Average: Wingate (0.355)
Team Winning Percentage: Carson-Newman (.882)
Fair Play Award: Coker
