COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M led the SEC with five players on the 27-player all-league squad, the conference announced on Monday.
The Aggies had two players named All-SEC First Team, including midfielder Shea Groom and defender Meghan Streight. Goalkeeper Jordan Day, defender Leigh Edwards and midfielder Kelley Monogue garnered All-SEC Second Team.
This marks the second honor for Groom, who last season was named an All-SEC Second Team performer at forward. On the year, the Liberty, Missouri native leads the team in scoring (28) and goals (12) despite missing two matches with an injury. Groom has five game-winning goals on the season and she’s been called on to take a penalty kick on three occasions, burying all three. She was also a NSCAA All-South Region First Team performer as a sophomore in 2012.
Streight has earned all-conference recognition on three occasions, including All-SEC First Team status each of the last two years. Making a position change from the midfield to defender in 2013, Streight has started all 19 games this season on a defense that owns a 0.99 goals-against average and six shutouts. She has six points on the year with two goals and two assists. Last season, Streight was A&M’s most decorated player, earning All-SEC First Team as a midfielder and pulling SEC All-Tournament Team, NSCAA All-South Region First Team and NSCAA All-America Third Team honors. As a freshman, she was named All-Big 12 Second Team, Big 12 All-Newcomer, Big 12 All-Tournament Team and NSCAA All-Central Region Third Team.
Day earned her second All-SEC honor, gracing the First Team in 2012 when she was also a NSCAA All-South Region First Team performer. She has started all 19 matches for the Aggies, logging 61 saves a 1.02 goals-against average and four shutouts. For her career she ranks second on the school list with 27 shutouts and her 46 wins ranks fourth on the A&M all-time list.
Another player who made a position change in 2013, Edwards has started every match as a defender this season after being a part-time starter in the midfield her first two seasons. This season, Edwards has two seven points on two goals and three assists. She notched the game-winning goal in the Aggies’ win over Auburn earlier this season.
Nagged by a knee injury in 2012, Monogue missed out on All-SEC honors as a sophomore, but she dominated the awards circuit in 2011 as Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, Big 12 Rookie of the Year, All-Big 12 First Team, Big 12 Tournament Most Valuable Player, NSCAA All-Central Region First Team and Soccer America All-Freshman First Team. Playing in the midfield this season, Monogue has 16 points on six goals and four assists. For her career, she ranks seventh on A&M’s career goals list with 35 and ninth on the career points list with 83.
A&M is the first team to register five All-SEC players in a year since Florida in 2010 and the only team to accomplish the feat in the 14-team era. They are only the sixth team to register at least five All-SEC players in a year. Vanderbilt set the mark with seven in 1995 when the league had 11 soccer-playing members. In the 12-team era, Florida registered five All-SEC players in 1996, 1999 and 2010 and Tennessee tallied five in 2004.
After the Aggies’ five All-SEC honorees, Florida, Kentucky and LSU were the only other schools with more than two, checking in with three apiece. A&M, Florida, Ole Miss and South Carolina were the only schools to have multiple first-teamers with the Gators boasting three to lead the way.
A&M forward Liz Keester was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team. In her first season in the Maroon and White, she ranks second on the team in both points (18) and goals (7). Having played in 19 games, including four starts, Keester has the game-winning goal on three occasions, including a dramatic golden goal in the Aggies’ 4-3 overtime win against Arkansas. She was named the SEC Rookie of the Week on October 14.
Texas A&M’s G Guerrieri was named the SEC Coach of the Year. Florida forward Savannah Jordan was recognized as the Offensive Player of the Year and the Freshman of the Year. South Carolina goalkeeper Sabrina D’Angelo was tabbed the Defensive Player of the Year and Ole Miss’ Rafaelle Souza was christened the Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
2013 SEC Women’s Soccer Awards
All-SEC First Team
Forward: Arin Gilliland, Kentucky
Forward: Savannah Jordan, Florida
Forward: Rafaelle Souza, Ole Miss
Forward: Cheyna Williams, Vanderbilt
Midfielder: Kaysie Clark, Missouri
Midfielder: Shea Groom, Texas A&M
Midfielder: Mandy McCalla, Ole Miss
Midfielder: Havana Solaun, Florida
Defender: Taylor Leach, South Carolina
Defender: Kala Faulkner, Auburn
Defender: Meghan Streight, Texas A&M
Defender: Christen Westphal, Florida
Goalkeeper: Sabrina D’Angelo, South Carolina
All-SEC Second Team
Forward: Caroline Brown, Tennessee
Forward: Summer Clarke, LSU
Forward: Pia Rijsdijk, Alabama
Forward: Elisabeth Sullivan, Mississippi State
Midfielder: Ashleigh Ellenwood, Arkansas
Midfielder: Emma Fletcher, LSU
Midfielder: Kelley Monogue, Texas A&M
Midfielder: Stuart Pope, Kentucky
Defender: Torri Allen, Georgia
Defender: Leigh Edwards, Texas A&M
Defender: Cara Ledman, Kentucky
Defender: Megan Lee, LSU
Defender: Allie Sirna, Tennessee
Goalkeeper: Jordan Day, Texas A&M
All-Freshman Team
Pam Begić, Florida
Simone Charley, Vanderbilt
Summer Clarke, LSU
Marion Crowder, Georgia
Chelsea Drennan, South Carolina
Emma Fletcher, LSU
Gretchen Harknett, Ole Miss
Savannah Jordan, Florida
Liz Keester, Texas A&M
Casie Ramsier, Auburn
Zoe Swift, Kentucky
Coach of the Year
G Guerrieri, Texas A&M
Offensive Player of the Year
Savannah Jordan, Florida
Defensive Player of the Year
Sabrina D’Angelo, South Carolina
Freshman of the Year
Savannah Jordan, Florida
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Rafaelle Souza, Ole Miss
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics