Carson-Newman’s Wade Named United Soccer Coaches Player of the Week
Courtesy of Carson-Newman Athletics
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Lauren Wade collects yet another award to attach to her already impressive resume as the United Soccer Coaches named the senior forward Player of the Week this afternoon.
She is the first women's soccer player with the Eagles to receive the award since the USC began handing out weekly awards across all three divisions in 2013.
The weekly award process began in 2010, before the program expanded to include a men's and women's winner from all three NCAA divisions, and open to Junior College divisions as well.
United Soccer Coaches Players of the Week are a weekly recognition of the on-field accomplishments of players competing at the intercollegiate level. United Soccer Coaches names one male and one female recipient at all three NCAA levels and the two Junior College levels, selected from nominations submitted by sports information directors.
"What an honor for Lauren," Coach Simon Duffy mentioned. "She definitely deserves the recognition after her performance this past week. I'm glad she has continued to be great for us."
The native of Coleraine, Northern Ireland collected five goals and added one assist in three South Atlantic Conference Tournament games, en route to being named to the All-Tournament team and being named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
Her three goals in the SAC Championship win over Wingate propelled the Eagles to their third-straight conference title, joining the Catawba College Catawba Indians as the only teams to win three-consecutive league championships when they did it from 1997-99.
"This team deserves everything but I appreciate the recognition with the fact that it's getting noticed around the states," Wade stated. "We have achieved a lot this year and we hope to continue to do what we do best."
The award marks an impressive week for the All-American who also was voted to First-Team All-SAC, as well as being named SAC Player of the Year for the second-consecutive season. She also earned the Tennessee Sports Writers Association Player of the Week for the fourth-time in her career.
She currently has 42 points on the year, with 16 goals and 10 assists. She'll look to creep closer to her 52-point mark from the 2016 season when the NCAA Tournament gets underway this weekend at Mossy Creek.
The Eagles (17-0-1) also remained at No. 2 in the final regular season United Soccer Coaches National Poll, as announced this afternoon. It's the highest ranking ever achieved in the program's history.
C-N received the No. 1 seed in the Southeast Region for the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championships, which means they have earned themselves a first round bye and a home game.
They will await the winner of four-seeded UNC-Pembroke (15-4-1) and five-seeded Queens (N.C.) (11-2-3) on Friday at 2:00 p.m. at McCown Field.
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