Soccer leads Sun Belt with six All-Conference selections

Goeglein, Loye, and Rhoden earn individual postseason honors

October 30, 2012 · MT Athletic Communications

Paige Goeglein was named the 2012 Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year, while rookie Kate Loye garnered 2012 Freshman of the Year honors on Tuesday. (@MTAthletics)

MOBILE, Ala. - The Middle Tennessee soccer team was awarded a conference-high six All-Sun Belt Conference selections, the conference announced Tuesday evening. Additionally, senior midfielder Paige Goeglein, freshman midfielder Kate Loye and head coach Aston Rhoden earned individual postseason honors.

Goeglein and Loye are among four Blue Raiders named First Team All-Conference. Senior forward Regina Thomas and senior defender Allison Stallard were also first team selections. Thomas tallied 16 points in the regular season on five goals and six assists. Seniors Whitney Jorgenson and Charity Blair were named Second Team All-Conference. Jorgenson leads the Blue Raiders with seven assists. Stallard and Blair led a MT backline that allowed 22 goals in 18 matches.

Goeglein was named the 2012 Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year. The senior is the first Blue Raider to earn the honor. She leads the Blue Raiders, as well as the conference, in scoring with 14 goals and 32 points, putting her among the top-25 in scoring nationally. Goeglein leads the nation with eight game-winning goals. She was named Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 4 and Oct. 16, and also earned weekly honors from College Sports Madness, College Soccer 360, and the Tennessee Sports Writers Association.

After scoring seven goals with six assists during the regular season, Loye was named the 2012 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year. She finished tied with North Texas freshman Karla Pineda as the conference's leading rookie scorer with seven tallies. Loye earned Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week honors on Oct. 1 after tallying six points in the Blue Raiders' wins over FIU and Florida Atlantic. She had a goal in both of those matches, as well as assists on the game-winning goals in each match. Loye is the fourth Blue Raider to be named Sun Belt Freshman of the Year and the first since Shan Jones in 2008 to be honored with the award.

"I'm really proud of the recognition Allison, Charity, Kate, Paige, Regina and Whitney have received as members of the 2012 All-Sun Belt teams," said Rhoden. "All of them had a stellar season and were instrumental in the success we enjoyed thus far. I'm especially pleased with Paige and Kate for winning the Offensive Player of The Year and the Freshman of the Year awards, respectively. Their performances this season made them truly deserving of their individual awards."

Rhoden was named the 2012 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year after leading MT to a share of the Sun Belt regular season championship. The Blue Raiders enter the 2012 Sun Belt Tournament with a record of 13-4-1, the most wins in a season for MT since going 13-9-2 in 2010, when the Raiders won the Sun Belt Tournament. The 2012 season marks the ninth in 10 years that Rhoden has led the Blue Raiders to at least 10 wins. This is his third Coach of the Year award and first since 2004.

"With so many quality coaches in the league, I'm honored to be selected as the 2012 Coach of the Year," exclaimed Rhoden. "However, such recognition could not have been accomplished without my assistants, Chris Cahill and Allison Whitworth, as well as a dedicated group of support staff members. Now, we must turn our focus to getting a positive result against tournament host South Alabama."

MT, the No. 2 seed in the Sun Belt Tournament, takes on the No. 7 seed and tournament host South Alabama Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinals. The Blue Raiders beat the Jaguars 2-1 in Murfreesboro on Oct. 14. Live stats and video of Wednesday's contest can be found online at SunBeltSports.org.

2012 SBC First Team All-Conference

Chelsea Leiva (FIU, Junior, Forward)

Regina Thomas (Middle Tennessee, Senior, Forward)

Michelle Young (North Texas, Senior, Forward)

Paige Goeglein (Middle Tennessee, Senior, Midfielder)

Kate Loye (Middle Tennessee, Freshman, Midfielder)

Karla Pineda (North Texas, Freshman, Midfielder)

Chrissy Tchoula (Western Kentucky, Junior, Midfielder)

Kelsey Hodges (North Texas, Junior, Defender)

Ali Stahlke (Western Kentucky, Senior, Defender)

Allison Stallard (Middle Tennessee, Senior, Defender)

Kaitlyn Savage (FIU, RS-Junior, Goalkeeper)