Big South Announces 2023 Women's Soccer Annual Award Winners
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – USC Upstate forward
Dara Russo (Miamisburg, Ohio) and Radford defender
Helena Willson (Leesburg, Va.) have been voted the 2023 Big South Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively, by the conference’s head coaches, it was announced today by the league office. Charleston Southern goalie
Jenna Moran (Naples, Fla.) was voted the Goalkeeper of the Year, while Radford forward
Eileen Albers (Melsungen, Germany) was tabbed Freshman of the Year. High Point forward
Tessa Carlin (Winnipeg, Canada) was voted Newcomer of the Year, Radford head coach
Ben Sohrabi was voted Coach of the Year, and the Big South’s sports information directors voted CSU’s
Dakota Fiedler (Forked River, N.J.) the Women’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Russo is the first USC Upstate student-athlete to be voted Big South Offensive Player of the Year during Upstate’s conference affiliation (since 2018). Last year’s Big South Freshman of the Year, Russo led the Spartans the entire season with league highs of 29 points and 13 goals, while contributing three assists. She finished the regular-season with 62 shots, 41 shots on goal, and two game-winning scores. Russo holds the conference single-game highs for points (7 vs. Winthrop), shots (9 vs. Winthrop), and goals ( 3 vs. South Carolina State and vs. Winthrop). In Big South matches, she paced the circuit with 14 points and six goals. She collected two Big South weekly honors in 2023, was named the United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Week on Oct. 25, and was recognized on the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Team of the Week on Oct. 3. Russo received eight first-place votes and 24 points in the Offensive Player of the Year voting, ahead of Longwood’s
Peyton Curney (12 points) and Radford’s
Paige Olson (11 points, one first-place vote).
Willson is the fourth Highlander in the past five seasons to be voted Big South Defensive Player of the Year. She captained the defensive backline this season to seven shutouts, including 0.88 goals against average against conference opponents, which was tops in the league. Willson started and played all 17 matches totaling 1,471 minutes on the field and played in every minute of conference play. The senior also scored three goals this season to help in key victories over Appalachian State and Longwood. Willson helped Radford earn Division I Top 100 rankings in goal differential and shutout percentage, and garnered Big South Defensive Player of the Week honors on Oct. 23. She earned 21 points and six first-place votes in Defensive Player of the Year balloting, ahead of USC Upstate’s
Catarina Bastos (12 points and one first-place vote) and Longwood’s
Brooke Bonner (nine points and two first-place votes).
Moran is the first repeat winner of the Big South Goalkeeper of the Year award, as she was the inaugural winner in 2021. After missing the 2022 season with an injury, Moran led the conference in 2023 with a .842 saves percentage, was second with 80 saves and 5.71 saves per game, and posted a 1.11 goals-against average while allowing the second-fewest goals this season (15). In playing all eight Big South matches, Moran was tops in shoutouts (3), saves percentage (.879) and GAA (0.88). Moran received four first-place votes and 17 points, ahead of Radford’s
Lexi Radvanyi (11 points and two first-place votes) and Longwood’s
Mary Kate Levush (nine points).
Albers is the second Highlander in three seasons to be voted Big South Freshman of the Year and the sixth overall. She had one of the best debut seasons in recent history for a Highlander, as she leads the team in goals (six) and points (15) entering the Big South Championship tournament. Her six goals rank third-most overall in the conference and most among Big South freshmen. Albers’ three game-winners, which came against Presbyterian, UNC Asheville and Winthrop, also rank tied for most in the league. She also became the first Highlander since 2021 and first freshman since 2015 to net a hat trick, doing so against PC. In conference matches, Albers tied for the league-lead with six goals and was second with 12 points. She was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Team of the Week on Sept. 26, and was among TDS’ Women’s Freshman Top 100 Midseason list. The Sept. 25 Big South Offensive Player of the Week collected six first-place votes and 20 points in the voting, ahead of Longwood’s Curney (18 points and three first-place votes) and Presbyterian’s
Lina-Marie Mueller (eight points).
Carlin is the first Big South Women’s Soccer Newcomer of the Year, which recognizes the top non-freshman transfer. In her first season with the Panthers, the transfer from UTEP played in every game (17) while starting in 14 for 1,060 minutes logged. She scored a team-high five goals with a pair of multi-score games. She netted two against N.C. State in a 2-2 draw to claim her first Big South Offensive Player of the Week honor, while the Canadian’s two goals -- including the game-winning score -- against Charleston Southern propelled HPU to a 3-1, Senior Day victory. The forward also scored in a 1-1 draw at Gardner-Webb to cap a five-goal regular season. Carlin collected four first-place votes and 18 points, ahead of USC Upstate’s
Paige Armstrong (14 points and three points), and Charleston Southern’s
Sydney Thomas (nine points and one first-place vote).
Sohrabi is now a five-time Big South Coach of the Year recipient. He led the Highlanders to the program’s sixth regular-season championship -- tied for the most in conference history -- with a 6-1-1 league mark and 19 points. This season marked the 16th time Sohrabi has led a Highlander team to 10 or more wins, as Radford enters the postseason with a 10-5-2 overall record. As a team, Radford ranks in the top-two in the Big South in shots, shots on goal, points, goals, and assists. Sohrabi received four first-place votes and 19 points in the voting, ahead of Charleston Southern’s
Jose Gomez (15 points and two first-place votes) and USC Upstate’s
Sharif Saber (11 points and two first-place votes).
Fiedler is Charleston Southern’s first Scholar-Athlete of the Year honoree since 2005 and fifth overall. She carries a 4.0 GPA while working on her master’s in criminal justice, and finished the regular-season third on the squad with eight points (three goals, two assists).
The league also announced the 2023 All-Conference and All-Academic teams on Tuesday, which are listed below. The All-Conference team is voted by the head coaches and features four forwards, four midfielders, four defenders and one goalkeeper on the first and second teams, followed by a five-person honorable mention squad regardless of position. A seven-member All-Freshman Team regardless of position is also recognized. The All-Academic Team consists of one student-athlete from each institution that meets the criteria and is nominated and selected by the Big South’s sports information directors.
2023 Big South Conference Women’s Soccer Award Winners
First-Team All-Conference
F: Dara Russo, Soph., USC Upstate
F: Eileen Albers, Fr., Radford
F: Paige Olson, Soph., Radford
F: Peyton Curney, Fr., Longwood
MF: Alexeis Kirnos, Sr., Radford
MF: Lindsey DeHaven, Jr., High Point
MF: Fain Buete, Gr., High Point
MF: Dakota Fiedler, Gr., Charleston Southern
D: Helena Willson, Sr., Radford
D: Alex DePerno, Sr., High Point
D: Catarina Bastos, Soph., USC Upstate
D: Brooke Bonner, Jr., Longwood
GK: Jenna Moran, Gr., Charleston Southern
Second-Team All-Conference
F: Nya Baccelli, Jr., USC Upstate
F: Tessa Carlin, Gr., High Point
F: Lina-Marie Mueller, R-Fr., Presbyterian College
F: Kaiya Boyd, Sr., UNC Asheville
MF: Alex Dinger, Sr., Longwood
MF: Margret Edda Bjarnadottir, Soph., USC Upstate
MF: Paige Armstrong, Soph., USC Upstate
MF: Camilia Lezcano, Soph., Gardner-Webb
D: Hailey Sapinoro, Fr., USC Upstate
D: Fiama Hidalgo, Jr., Charleston Southern
D: Anna Doane, Jr., UNC Asheville
D: Jill Silverstone, Soph. Radford
GK: Lexi Radvanyi, Fr., Radford
Honorable Mention All-Conference
Sloan Spees, F, Soph., Presbyterian College
Kiah Cirino, D, Soph., Charleston Southern
Julia Gill, F, Jr., Longwood
Ashley Finn, F, Sr., USC Upstate
Megan Garmey, D, Jr., High Point
All-Freshman Team
Eileen Albers, F, Fr., Radford
Peyton Curney, F, Fr., Longwood
Hailey Sapinoro, D, R-Fr., USC Upstate
Lexi Radvanyi, GK, Fr., Radford
Claire DeAngelis, F., Fr., Charleston Southern
Meg Roden, MF, Fr., High Point
Lina-Marie Muller, F, R-Fr., Presbyterian College
All-Academic Team
Dakota Fiedler, MF, Gr., Charleston Southern
Abby Clark, F, Gr., Gardner-Webb
Megan Garmey, D, Jr., High Point
Alayna Palamar, D, Sr., Longwood
Kelly Hall, GK, Jr., Presbyterian College
Katelyn O'Donnell, MF, Sr., Radford
Gracie Murray, GK, Soph., UNC Asheville
Emily Sanders, D, Sr., USC Upstate
Katy Feskorn, MF, Sr., Winthrop
Offensive Player of the Year
Dara Russo, F, Soph, USC Upstate
Goalkeeper of the Year
Jenna Moran, Gr., Charleston Southern
Defensive Player of the Year
Helena Willson, D, Sr., Radford
Freshman of the Year
Eileen Albers, F, Fr., Radford
Newcomer of the Year
Tessa Carlin, F, Gr., High Point
Coach of the Year
Ben Sohrabi, Radford
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Dakota Fiedler, MF, Gr., Charleston Southern