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Women's Soccer

BROWN, SOHRABI TAKE HOME TOP LEAGUE HONORS; EIGHT SELECTED ALL-CONFERENCE

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RADFORD, Va. – Following its third Big South regular season title in four seasons, Radford women's soccer was rewarded by its peers as senior goalkeeper Che' Brown and head coach Ben Sohrabi were named Defensive Player and Coach of the Year, respectively, announced the league office on Monday evening. In all, eight Highlanders earned all-conference recognition, which included three first-team selections for the second straight season.
 
Joining Brown on the first team were her classmates, Sydney Golden and Julie Ruh'e. Senior Rachel Conway was selected to the second team as well as the all-academic squad, while senior Sahar Aflaki and junior Caitlin Annear earned honorable mention honors. Rookie forwards Britney Kendall and Melanie Priestley garnered all-freshmen recognition.
 
"It has been a great season and we are very thankful for the individual awards," Sohrabi said. "The team has worked hard to achieve these individual awards so we consider all of them team accomplishments."
 
Ruh'e and Conway earned all-conference honors for the second time in their careers, while Golden, Aflaki and Annear are on the all-conference squad for the first time.
 
For Brown, it marks her third defensive honor in four seasons and the fourth straight first-team selection, putting her in some select Radford company. She joins women's soccer alum, Nikki Porter (2001-04), as the only four-time first-team honoree and is just one of three RU student-athletes to garner three or more Player of the Year nods (Martin Sayer, 2006-09 Men's Tennis Player of the Year and Ashley Taylor, 2006-08 Pitcher of the Year). This season, Brown has posted a 0.62 GAA with an .867 save percentage and six shutouts, ing her career total to 33.
 
Sohrabi guided the Highlanders to a league-record 10-1-0 mark in the Big South regular season, including a program record 8-0 start. The three-time Big South Coach of the Year has led Radford to its second most wins in program history (15). The squad currently ranks tops in the Big South in points per game, goals, assists and goals against average.
 
"The great thing about our team is we feel like it is a balanced squad," commented Sohrabi.  "Everybody defends and a lot of players have scored goals this year and that is the biggest reason we consider all of these as team honors."
 
Golden has been instrumental on both offense and defense this season. She is the anchor of a Highlander defense that posted 10 shutouts and is nationally ranked in goals against (14th), which is tops in the league. Golden stepped it up offensively, scoring the first six goals of her career, four of which were game winners and she also dished out four assists, all on conference game-winning goals. She currently tied for a team-best points (16) and is second in both goals and assists.
 
Ruh'e, who was a first-team selection as a freshman, made the permanent move to the midfield at the start of her senior season and has strived there throughout. Just one of two players to start every match, Ruh'e dished out a team-best five assists and also chipped in with three goals, including the game-winner at Longwood.
 
Conway earns her second straight all-conference nod after a first-team selection in 2012. She is the quarterback of the midfield unit and plays a big role in a NCAA top-20 defense. She's also provided a spark on offense with four goals and four assists. Two of her goals were the equalizer and game-winner against Towson. Off the field, Conway was a 2013 Academic All-District selection and has sports a 4.0, while majoring in sports medicine.
 
Aflaki has registered five goals, two assists and 12 points. Her goals are tied for third on a balanced offensive attack that is tops in the league in goals, assists and points per game. She scored both goals in a 2-0 victory at Campbell and leads the squad in shots.
 
Earning her first all-conference nod, Annear is just one of two Highlanders to start every game. She has played a key roll as an outside defender for the 14th ranked defensive unit that has posted a league-best 0.54 goals against average, along with 10 shutouts. Annear is also an integral part of the offensive attack with her strong runs up the sidelines and on corner kicks.
 
Kendall is tied for third on the squad with five goals and has also dished out three assists. She scored the late-minute game-winner against Gardner-Webbb and also posted back-to-back one-goal, one-assist games against Liberty and UNC Asheville. Her two-goal, two-assist week earned her Big South Attacking Player of the Week accolades (Oct. 14).

As the team's leading scorer, Priestley has registered seven goals and 16 points. Starting all but one match, she owns four game-winners, all in league games (PC, Winthrop, Liberty, VMI), which ranks her tied for first in league games and third overall. Five of Priestley's seven goals were the first of the match.
 
Radford returns to the pitch on Friday, Nov. 8 against fourth-seeded Winthrop for the Big South Semifinals presented by Musco Lighting. Hosted by Coastal Carolina, the first of two semifinals begins at 4:30 p.m.
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