SEC Soccer Tournament has huge opening day

The SEC Women’s Soccer Tournament had the second-largest attendance for an opening day in the conference’s history.

The three-time SEC Goalkeeper of the Year showed why she is the best to ever do it Sunday afternoon as Ole Miss (9-6-4) shut out LSU (9-3-7) in a match that was decided on penalty kicks. Ashley Orkus and the Rebel defense kept the Tigers off the board through regulation, two overtime periods, and three rounds of penalty kicks to advance to the quarterfinals. The Rebels now advance to the quarterfinals where they will face the SEC East Division Champion South Carolina Gamecocks on Tuesday at noon.

In the first overtime match of the season for the Mississippi State soccer program (11-4-4), the Bulldogs outlasted the Texas A&M Aggies (9-6-5) to advance to the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals. Graduate transfer Jojo Ngongo’s 99th-minute header helped secure State its first conference tournament appearance past the first round. The No. 8 seeded Bulldogs will return to the pitch Tuesday, Nov. 1, for a quarterfinal match against the No. 1 seeded Alabama Crimson Tide (17-1-1, 10-0 SEC). The match will kick off at 5 p.m.

Alabama Head Coach Wes Hart will be my guest on WCOA tomorrow at 8:20.

Other Tuesday games

2:30 p.m. Tennessee vs. Georgia

7:30 p.m. Arkansas vs. Vanderbilt

---

The Southeastern Conference unveiled soccer coaches’ postseason awards on Sunday.

Alabama’s Wes Hart was named SEC Coach of the Year honor; Alabama’s Riley Mattingly Parker was voted SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and SEC Forward of the Year; Alabama’s Felecia Knox was selected as SEC Midfielder of the Year; Alabama’s Reyna Reyes was voted SEC Defender of the Year; Ole Miss’s Ashley Orkus was picked as the SEC Goalkeeper of the Year, and Alabama’s Gianna Paul was awarded SEC Freshman of the Year

First-team and second-team All-SEC honorees, All-Freshman team in addition to the individual awards were chosen by the league’s 14 coaches. Ties were not broken.

2022 SEC Soccer Awards

First Team All-SEC

Forward:  Riley Mattingly Parker, Alabama

Forward:  Anna Podojil, Arkansas

Forward:  Jaida Thomas, Tennessee

Forward:  Catherine Barry, South Carolina

Forward:  Maile Hayes, Texas A&M

Midfielder:  Felicia Knox, Alabama

Midfielder:  Abby Boyan, Georgia

Midfielder:  Taylor Huff, Tennessee

Midfielder:  Raegan Kelley, Vanderbilt

Defender:  Reyna Reyes, Alabama

Defender:  Jyllissa Harris, South Carolina

Defender:  Maya Antoine, Vanderbilt

Defender:  Lindsi Jennings, LSU

Goalkeeper:  Ashley Orkus, Ole Miss

 

Second Team All-SEC

Forward:  Gianna Paul, Alabama

Forward:  Ava Tankersley, Arkansas

Forward:  Mo O’Connor, Ole Miss

Forward:  Mackenzie George, Tennessee

Midfielder:  Riley Tanner, Alabama

Midfielder:  Bea Franklin, Arkansas

Midfielder:  Wasila Diwura-Soale, LSU

Midfielder:  Macey Hodge, Mississippi St.

Midfielder:  Mia Pante, Texas A&M

Defender:  Sasha Pickard, Alabama

Defender:  Ellie Podojil, Arkansas

Defender:  Grace Pettet, Missouri

Defender:  Ella Shamburger, Vanderbilt

Goalkeeper:  Grace Barbara, Arkansas

 

All-Freshman Team

 Gianna Paul, Alabama

 Brooke Steere, Alabama

 Ella Riley, Arkansas

 Makenzie Malham, Arkansas

 Gracie Falla, South Carolina

 Ída Hermannsdóttir, LSU

 Maggie Wadsworth, Mississippi State

 Bella Hollenbach, Missouri

 Shae O’Rourke, South Carolina

 Carolyn Calzada, Texas A&M

 Hannah McLaughlin, Vanderbilt

 

Coach of the Year:

 Wes Hart, Alabama

 

Forward of the Year:

 Riley Mattingly Parker, Alabama

 

Midfielder of the Year:

 Felicia Knox, Alabama

 

Defender of the Year:

 Reyna Reyes, Alabama

 

Goalkeeper of the Year:

 Ashley Orkus, Ole Miss

 

Freshman of the Year:

 Gianna Paul, Alabama

 

Scholar-Athlete of the Year:

 Riley Mattingly Parker, Alabama