For the third time in program history, the John Brown women's soccer team placed six members on the annual All-Sooner Athletic Conference teams, this time headlined by freshman Jastin Redman being named the Freshman of the Year, conference offices announced Nov. 11.
Capturing the Freshman of the Year award, Redman becomes the first player in program history to claim such an honor.
Redman, who also accumulated the third-highest votes in the conference, was joined on the First Team by sophomore Sarah Frey, junior Sarah Lachance and sophomore Samantha Weber. The First Team nods were the first career honors for Redman and Weber, while Lachance joins the top team for the second time in her career (2013) and Frey has now been named to the First Team for her second-straight season.
Additionally, freshman Aspen Robinson and senior Julie Whitlow were named to the Second Team. Whitlow has now been named Second Team for the past two seasons.
The Golden Eagles' four First-Team nominations were the most of any team in the conference. Only Oklahoma City (7) had more total honorees than John Brown.
"I am so excited for each of these young women and to see the recognition they received for their work on the field," said head coach Kathleen Paulsen. "To have two forwards, two midfielders and two defenders selected to all-conference teams is a demonstration of the balance we have across the field this year and the collective effort that the team as a whole put in this season. Each player played very different roles for us this year, yet they filled their role effectively, took care of the details and impacted the game with their level of play.
"It was exciting to see several previous all-conference players from last year selected again, demonstrating their level of consistency from season to season. It's equally exciting to see the young new faces in this group that speak to a bright future for our team. I am very proud of them all."
JBU fell one player short of tying an all-time record as the 2010 edition of the Golden Eagles boasted seven nominees that season. Also, in 2014, John Brown featured six members on the conference's highest honored listing.
Redman made an immediate impact in her freshman campaign before falling to a season-ending knee injury. The striker posted 14 goals and eight assists (36 points) and tallied four game-winning goals, including a perfect 4-of-4 mark from the penalty marker. Redman's 36 points is tied for third all-time while her 2.12 sets a new single-season program record. She also set another single-season program record with .824 goals per game and her 13 goals finishes at tied for fourth place all-time in a single season. Individually, Redman finished fourth in the conference in points (20), points per game (2.5) and goals (9).
Frey returns to the First Team ballot for the second time in as many seasons after directing a JBU midfield to the tune of one goal and four assists (6 points). She also fired 21 shots on the season, eight on goal, to the tune of a .381 shooting percentage accuracy.
For a third-consecutive year, Lachance was named All-Conference and landed on the First Team for a second time after accumulating seven goals and six assists (20 points) on the season, to finish third on the team in scoring. Timely scoring couldn't have happened any better as Lachance potted the program's ninth-ever hat trick in the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament quarterfinals against Texas Wesleyan, turning a 2-1 lead into a 5-1 blowout on Nov. 7. The midfielder's six assists also was enough for third-highest on the team.
Logging the third-most minutes on the team this year, Weber claimed her first conference honors after leading the JBU back line to a mere 1.18 goals-against average this season. Allowing just 11.5 shots against per game, the second-year defender helped the Golden Eagles post eight shutouts on the year, despite missing the services of senior starting keeper Kristen Morency. Weber also notched three goals and two assists (8 points) on the season.
Robinson also posted one of the most prolific seasons in program history this year with a 12-goal, 11-assist (35 points) outburst in her freshman campaign. The striker's point total is now fourth-most all-time in single-season program history while her 11 helpers are tied for third all-time. Robinson's 1.75 points per game is also fourth-highest all-time. Her six goals and 16 points in conference play placed her in seventh and fifth in league scoring, respectively. Robinson tallied at least a point in 13 of 20 games this season and notched a five-point outing on three separate occasions.
Finally, Whitlow returns to the Second Team in her final season, marking consecutive appearances for the defender. Whitlow has pieced together an impressive career that includes 75 games played and 10 points. More importantly, with Whitlow on the back line, the Golden Eagles have secured 34 shutouts in the last four seasons (8.5 per season) the highest average of any four years in program history.
After being picked in the SAC Preseason Coaches' Poll to finish second overall, John Brown managed to post a 13-6-2 mark this season, which ended with a penalty kicks loss to Science and Arts (Okla.) in the SAC Tournament Championship on Nov. 13. JBU went 7-1-1 conference record in the regular season and claimed the third seed in the 2015 SAC tournament. After an easy 5-1 victory over sixth-seeded Texas Wesleyan in the quarterfinals, John Brown earned its first-ever victory at Stars Field, knocking off second-seeded Oklahoma City 1-0 on Nov. 10 to advance to its third-consecutive tournament title game.
Sports on 11/25/2015