Women's Soccer 11/5/2008 8:15:00 PM VMIKeydets.com

Moore and Williams Among Big South Conference Women?s Soccer Award Winners

HIGH POINT, N.C. ? VMI forward Olivia Moore earned Freshman of the Year honors while Bryan Williams earned Coach of the Year laurels as the Big South Conference announced its 2008 Women's Soccer Honors on Wednesday evening.

The Keydets, enjoying a breakthrough season that netted them a second-place finish (tied) in the League standings, also saw junior defender Audrey Falconi join Moore on the First Team All-Conference listing, while senior defender Celine Ziobro was tabbed Second Team All-Conference by the League's head coaches. Midfielder Sarah Strand also joined Moore on the Big South All-Freshman Team.

In all, the women's soccer program netted the largest haul of any VMI sport in a single season since joining the Big South Conference five seasons ago. Williams becomes only VMI's second Coach of the Year in any sport since joining the League, while Moore and Falconi become the initial First Team All-Conference honorees in program history.

“First off, I'm just elated for our team to be recognized like this by the other head coaches in the League,” said Williams. “Audrey Falconi and Olivia Moore really represent the entire team with their selections to the First Team. I also feel great that Celine Ziobro was recognized for her success and contribution to the team over the past four seasons. I've always felt that she's been among the top defenders in the Conference, and it is great for her to be honored by the other coaches. Sarah Strand did an outstanding job stepping in as a freshman and anchoring the midfield for us, along with her sister, and she is well-deserving of the All-Freshman honor. For Olivia to be recognized as Freshman of the Year, it just goes to show what a tremendous job she has done this year of not only accruing great numbers that rank her among the best players in the country, but also her being a constant threat against anybody that we've played.”

Moore (Powhatan, Va./Powhatan) becomes the second Keydet in three seasons to earn Freshman of the Year status, as Falconi was so named back in 2006. This season, Moore leads the Big South in both goals (12) and points (26), and is gunning to become only the second freshman in Big South history to lead both categories at season's end. The diminutive striker enters the Big South Championship ranked 37th nationally in goals per game and her 12 total tallies are tied for the third-most in a single season by a Keydet.

Williams directed one of the biggest turnarounds in Big South history, as this year's Keydets became the first team to come from last in the League standings one season to as high as second place the next year. The team's four-win improvement in Conference play is tied for the largest single-season turnaround in the Big South's annals, as the Keydets had gone 2-29 the past four seasons in the League before going 5-3-1 in 2008.

Falconi (Las Vegas, Nev./Centennial) has led a Keydet defense that has notched six shutouts and a 1.27 goals-against-average in 2008, both school records. A Second Team All-Conference selection a season ago, Falconi's value to the Keydets can be seen in the fact that when she has been in the starting lineup this season, the team has a 1.04 GAA, while in the four games she did not start, the team's GAA was 2.13. Falconi, who was also named Academic All-Conference by the Big South, also earned CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 3 Second Team honors last month.

Ziobro (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley) has started every match for VMI on the back line this season. She has also been a key component to this season's record-setting defense and has served as co-captain for the school's most successful squad to date. She has come out of only one Big South match this season for the Keydets, and was named VMI Athlete of the Week for her play against Winthrop and Charleston Southern in early October, when the Keydets capped their school-record 325-minute shutout streak.

Strand (Fredericksburg, Va./Colonial Forge) has enjoyed a successful freshman season for the Keydets, starting all but one match in the midfield for Williams' troops. She scored the game-winning goal at High Point and later scored against Gardner-Webb, with each of those goals assisted by her sister, Megan. She ranked third on the team in minutes played in 2008, and as a defensive midfielder, played a major role in the team's defensive prowess.

The third-seeded Keydets begin play in the 2008 Big South Conference Women's Soccer Championship on Thursday morning, taking on sixth-seeded Winthrop at 11 a.m. at the Vert Track & Soccer Field on the campus of High Point.

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