BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - WKU women's soccer kicked off the weekend with its annual awards banquet on Friday evening inside the Jack and Jackie Harbaugh Club and ended with the WKU Friends of Jaclyn Foundation 7v7 tournament hosted at Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium on Saturday.
Friday evening's banquet was a celebration of the 12-win season, WKU's most in a single campaign since 2012, and a third-place finish in C-USA, the Lady Toppers' best finish since joining the league. Awards from various organizations were handed out along with team awards decided by the coaches and players.
Senior defender Olivia Fitzgerald was named the team's Most Valuable Player after serving as the anchor along the back line. Fitzgerald played more minutes (1,725) than any other Lady Topper and led the defense to 10 shutouts, including five straight during the month of September that briefly saw WKU hold the longest active shutout streak in the nation. Fitzgerald was also named First Team All-C-USA, Second Team All-Region and earned a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team among other honors.
Seniors Iris Dunn and Fitzgerald were recognized as WKU's Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively, for the 2016 campaign. Dunn finished as the second-leading scorer on the team with 13 points on five goals and three assists and notched a pair of match-winning goals for the Lady Toppers. The Tavernier, Fla., native also led the squad with 16 shots on goal en route to earning Second Team All-C-USA, C-USA All-Academic and CoSIDA Academic All-District honors.
For the first time in program history, a pair of players were recognized with the team's Most Improved honor, with Sarah Gorham and Bria Mosley taking home the awards. Gorham, who bounced back from a season-ending injury in 2015, was the team's third-leading scorer with four goals and four assists, while Mosley also fired four goals, including the golden goal in overtime in a thrilling victory over Austin Peay on Sept. 2.
Makenzie Costner was given the Coach's Award which is given to the individual whose outstanding character, passion and perseverance embodies the most positive ideals of intercollegiate athletics. Costner started all 17 matches in which she appeared on the back line, helping to hold WKU's opponents to just 12 goals in those matches. Costner was awarded the C-USA Defensive Player of the Week award on Sept. 19 after a pair of shutouts against Belmont and Marshall.
Newcomer Dee Dee Green was given the Alumni Spirit Award for her positive energy on and off the field. The award is sponsored by the WKU Women's Soccer Alumni Association and is given to the person who represents the team well with civic activities and in the classroom. Green joined the Lady Toppers for her final season of collegiate soccer after transferring from Arkansas and notched a pair of assists in nearly 900 minutes of action.
The ROTC Leadership Award, presented to the player who best exemplified the qualities of leadership as a strong teammate, was awarded to Caitlin Hesse. Despite being limited due to injuries, Hesse still fired a goal and three assists for the Lady Toppers across 16 matches. The Atlanta, Ga., native also tallied the match-winning goal in the season opener at UT Martin, a 7-1 Lady Topper victory on Aug. 19.
The Lady Toppers wrapped up the weekend with the WKU Friends of Jaclyn Foundation 7v7 Tournament on Saturday where the team was able to raise more than $1,700 that will directly support the foundation. WKU split into two teams, red and white, and faced five other teams from UT Martin, Evansville, Eastern Kentucky, Austin Peay and Lady Topper alumni.
The WKU White team came out on top as the winner of the tournament after scoring 22 goals and surrendering only nine goals over the course of five games. The White team was led by eight goals and three assists from Hannah Chua, while Gorham added five goals and an assist and Nicole Roseland pitched in a goal and four assists. Despite dropping their first match, White captured the title after four straight wins, including a 3-2 win over Eastern Kentucky's Maroon team that featured Chua's goal off a corner kick in the final 15 seconds.
WKU's Red team fell in the semifinals and finished with a 3-1 record on the day. Chandler Backes, who led the team with 10 goals in 2016, had seven goals and an assist, including a hat trick against Eastern Kentucky's White team in the third match of the day.
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