Alabama Soccer Wins Six of Seven Major SEC Honors
10/30/2022 10:05:00 AM | Soccer
The Crimson Tide also saw eight student-athletes earn All-SEC honors
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After an historic regular season, the Alabama soccer team won six of seven major Southeastern Conference postseason awards, the league office announced Sunday. Head coach Wes Hart was tabbed Coach of the Year, while Riley Mattingly Parker was named Forward of the Year, Felicia Knox was named Midfielder of the Year, Reyna Reyes was named Defender of the Year and Gianna Paul was named Freshman of the Year. Additionally, Parker was selected as the SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
This marks the first time in program history that UA has had the league's forward, midfielder or defensive player of the year , while marking the second time a UA athlete has picked up freshman of the year and third time a UA coach has earned coach of the year.
In addition to the major honors, Alabama earned eight all-conference honors. Knox, Parker and Reyes were named First Team All-SEC, while Paul, Riley Tanner and Sasha Pickard were selected to the second team . Paul and Brooke Steere were named to the All-Freshman team.
Wes Hart – SEC Coach of the Year
- Led the Alabama to its first Southeastern Conference title
- The Tide is currently ranked third in United Soccer Coaches poll and first in TopDrawerSoccer's weekly rankings, surpassing the UA's previous best ranking of 15th during the 2020-21 season
- Alabama clinched the SEC title with a perfect 10-0 run in conference play, becoming the first team with an undefeated league record since South Carolina in 2016
- The Tide won the SEC West division for the first time in 24 years
- UA has won a program-best 17 games on the year and is on a program-best 13-game win streak
- Alabama has topped then-No. 5 South Carolina, then-No. 6 BYU, then-No. 7 Arkansas, then-No. 18 Clemson and then-No. 20 Ole Miss
- Alabama set the school record for points with 160 and assists with 50, and is currently tied for the program record in shutouts with 10
- Wes Hart earned UA's first SEC Coach of the Year honor since Don Staley secured the accolade in 1998
Riley Mattingly Parker - Forward of the Year/ Scholar Athlete of the Year
- Leading goal scorer for the Tide and 10th best player in the NCAA for total goals with 12 this season
- Ranked 11th nationally in total points with a team-leading 29
- Tied the school record for single-season game-winning goals with five on the year
- Five game-winning goals is the fifth best by a player nationally this season
- Scored the game-winning goal against Florida Atlantic, then-No. 18 Clemson, North Alabama, then-No. 20 Ole Miss and Mississippi State
- Three-time SEC Offensive Player of the Week (8/29, 9/5, 10/24)
- Holds a 4.0 through two graduate degrees after graduating magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in public relations
- Parker is the first UA player to be named the SEC Forward of the Year
- Sixth UA player to earn SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and first to do so since Nealy Martin in 2019
Felicia Knox - Midfielder of the Year
- Leads the NCAA in total assists with 15, while recording the nation's second-best assists per game average at 0.79
- Set the UA record in single-season assists, surpassing the prior mark of 10 by Merel van Dongen in 2014
- Ranks second on the team in points with 25 this season off of 15 assists and five goals
- Two of her five goals this season were game winners, scoring the deciding goal against then-No. 5 South Carolina and Texas A&M
- Assisted on the game-winning goal against Florida Atlantic, Southern Miss, Clemson, Utah Valley, Georgia and Ole Miss
- First Crimson Tide athlete to be named SEC Midfielder of the Year
Reyna Reyes - Defender of the Year
- Led the backline to 10 shutouts this season, tying the school record
- Paced UA to 17 wins, setting the program record for most wins in a season
- Despite playing on the backline, Reyes has scored six goals this season
- The Alabama defense ranks 16th nationally and second in the conference with a goals against average of 0.579
- Alabama has outscored its opponents 55-11 this season
- UA has not lost a home game in 413 days with the 16-game streak beginning with a 2-0 win over UAB on Sept. 12, 2021
- First UA student-athlete to be named SEC Defender of the Year
- Named to the Mac Hermann Trophy Watch List
Gianna Paul – Freshman of the Year
- Scored six goals to this point in her rookie season, while adding five assists to her resume
- Ranks third on the team in points with 17 this year
- Scored the game-winning goal in the Tide's upset win at then-No. 6 BYU
- Her six goals are tied for second on the team
- Scored a goal against Florida Atlantic, then-No. 18 Clemson, then-No. 6 BYU, Chattanooga, Texas A&M, LSU and Mississippi State
- Assisted the game-winning goal against Texas A&M
- Named SEC Freshman of the Week twice (9/5, 9/16)
- The second UA athlete to earn SEC Freshman of the Year honors, and the first since Merel van Dongen was tabbed with the rookie honor in 2012
All-SEC Honors
Coach of the Year: Wes Hart
Forward of the Year: Riley Mattingly Parker
Midfielder of the Year: Felicia Knox
Defender of the Year: Reyna Reyes
Freshman of the Year: Gianna Paul
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Riley Mattingly Parker
First Team All-SEC
Forward: Riley Mattingly Parker, Alabama
Midfielder: Felicia Knox, Alabama
Defender: Reyna Reyes, Alabama
Second Team All-SEC
Forward: Gianna Paul, Alabama
Midfielder: Riley Tanner, Alabama
Defender: Sasha Pickard, Alabama
All-Freshman Team
Gianna Paul, Alabama
Brooke Steere, Alabama
Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaSoccer on Twitter and Facebook and AlabamaSoccer on Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
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