University of Georgia Athletics
Four Bulldogs Earn SoccerBuzz All-America Honors
January 05, 2008 | Soccer
NEW YORK --- Four University of Georgia soccer players have been tabbed with All-America honors by SoccerBuzz Magazine, the publication announced this week. Sophomore forward Carrie Patterson (Atlanta, Ga.) was named a Second-Team All-American, while defender Kelli Corless (Acworth, Ga.), midfielder Caroline Simpson (Atlanta, Ga.) and defender Danielle Abelson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) were each named to Freshman All-America teams.
"This is a tremendous way to start the New Year with these players being recognized by coaches across the country for their performances last fall," said Georgia head coach Patrick Baker. "Carrie is very deserving of her All-America status this year and for three of our freshmen to receive All-America recognition is remarkable. The fact that these four individuals are all underclassman speaks volumes about our recruiting efforts and shows the impact they made on our team this fall."
Patterson has become just the second Bulldog to ever earn All-America distinctions, joining Stephanie Yarem, who was selected for the honor in 1997 and 1998. Georgia has had one player earn Freshman All-America accolades five other times, but has never had multiple selections in one year.
Patterson has been named a SoccerBuzz Second-Team All-American as she led Georgia in goals scored (13), points (32), game-winning goals (5), shots (67), shots on goal (36) and was tied for the team-lead in assists (6). Patterson adds this most recent accolade to a continually growing list of awards that also includes a SoccerBuzz First-Team All-Region award, NSCAA Second-Team All-American honor and NSCAA First-Team All-Southeast Region award. Earlier this season she was tabbed with her second consecutive first-team All-SEC honor, following up a 2006 season that saw her become Georgia's first-ever SEC Freshman of the Year. Patterson was also named a SoccerBuzz Freshman All-American last year.
"Obviously this is a great feeling but there are so many good players on our team along with our coaching staff to help me out," said Patterson. "I can attribute all of my individual success to them. I feel like I am in very elite company just on my own team. Coach Baker and the rest of the staff do a great job of preparing us all to play in the SEC. We didn't have as much success as we would have liked last year but they were able to build on it and use it to get us ready for this year."
"These awards are great for our freshmen as well," continued Patterson. "Last year it was a huge confidence booster for me to win that award and it motivated me to work even harder coming in to this year and I think it will do the same for Kelli, Caroline and Dani. Again our coaching staff and the older girls on the team do a great job of helping players make the transition from high school and club soccer to the collegiate level. That is a difficult jump but they make it a lot easier and I think that really showed this year."
A First-Team Freshman All-America selection, Corless was a finalist for the SoccerBuzz Freshman of the Year. She started all 24 games for Georgia at left back and was part of a defense that posted 10 shutouts in 2007. Corless was also tabbed with crucial corner-kick and set-piece duties, and tallied a goal and five assists off of those opportunities. Corless has become one of the most decorated freshmen in Georgia history, earning First-Team Freshman All-America honors from both SoccerBuzz and the NSCAA. She was named an NSCAA All-Region choice, voted the SEC Freshman of the Year and was a Second-Team All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman selection earlier this season.
"I am honored and thrilled to have received this award along with Dani, Carrie and Caroline," said Corless. "These awards speak volumes for our program and the direction Coach Baker has this program heading. We are all proud to be a part of such a hard-working team and we enjoyed the fall tremendously. The team is looking forward to continuing to make Georgia soccer history."
Simpson has been named a SoccerBuzz Third-Team Freshman All-American. Starting all 24 games at the left midfield position, her 18 points made her the team's second-leading point scorer as she racked up six goals and six assists. Simpson formally announced her arrival to collegiate soccer in the second game of the season, pacing Georgia's 3-1 win against Wisconsin. Simpson accounted for all of the Bulldog offense on the day, becoming the first Bulldog to score a hat-trick since Jessica Winton in 2003 and the first Georgia freshman to ever accomplish the feat.
"I think having so many players make All-America shows where our program is going," said Simpson. "And I expect it to continue with the great class we have coming in next year as much as it has with our current freshman class. This is definitely a great honor, I never expected anything like this coming into the season. I think personally I had a lot of ups and downs and needed to be more consistent and this just adds to my motivation for next year. I want to work harder to keep it up and help the team go even further. The commitment from everyone on our team really paid off this year. Everyone put so much into the program and this is really a reflection of our whole team's effort."
Abelson, a redshirt-freshman, has been named a Fourth-Team Freshman All-America choice. Also a SoccerBuzz Freshman All-Southeast Region selection, she returned to the pitch in 2007 after sitting out the 2006 season following ankle surgery. Upholding her status as a national Top 100 recruit out of high school, Abelson saw action in 22 games, starting all of them at center back alongside Tomlinson. She contributed two goals, both struck from long range, including the game-winning tally in a 1-0 Bulldog road win at Arkansas. Abelson's regular-season efforts also earned SEC All-Freshman recognition.
"First off, congratulations to my other teammates for earning this honor," said Abelson. "As I have said before, I think this speaks to how well our coaches have done recruiting and bringing in the right players for our program, players that can make a difference. For our team to continue to be recognized with all of these postseason honors says a lot about the quality and effort of our team and also how people outside of the view us. We had a terrific regular season, we made a great run in the SEC tournament and we made the NCAA Tournament, so to add this final recognition is a great honor. Right now it makes me want to work that much harder in the spring to get ready for next year. I have set goals for myself to be able to play at this level and I just want to keep working hard to sustain the level of play that got me here."
"This is a tremendous way to start the New Year with these players being recognized by coaches across the country for their performances last fall," said Georgia head coach Patrick Baker. "Carrie is very deserving of her All-America status this year and for three of our freshmen to receive All-America recognition is remarkable. The fact that these four individuals are all underclassman speaks volumes about our recruiting efforts and shows the impact they made on our team this fall."
Patterson has become just the second Bulldog to ever earn All-America distinctions, joining Stephanie Yarem, who was selected for the honor in 1997 and 1998. Georgia has had one player earn Freshman All-America accolades five other times, but has never had multiple selections in one year.
Patterson has been named a SoccerBuzz Second-Team All-American as she led Georgia in goals scored (13), points (32), game-winning goals (5), shots (67), shots on goal (36) and was tied for the team-lead in assists (6). Patterson adds this most recent accolade to a continually growing list of awards that also includes a SoccerBuzz First-Team All-Region award, NSCAA Second-Team All-American honor and NSCAA First-Team All-Southeast Region award. Earlier this season she was tabbed with her second consecutive first-team All-SEC honor, following up a 2006 season that saw her become Georgia's first-ever SEC Freshman of the Year. Patterson was also named a SoccerBuzz Freshman All-American last year.
"Obviously this is a great feeling but there are so many good players on our team along with our coaching staff to help me out," said Patterson. "I can attribute all of my individual success to them. I feel like I am in very elite company just on my own team. Coach Baker and the rest of the staff do a great job of preparing us all to play in the SEC. We didn't have as much success as we would have liked last year but they were able to build on it and use it to get us ready for this year."
"These awards are great for our freshmen as well," continued Patterson. "Last year it was a huge confidence booster for me to win that award and it motivated me to work even harder coming in to this year and I think it will do the same for Kelli, Caroline and Dani. Again our coaching staff and the older girls on the team do a great job of helping players make the transition from high school and club soccer to the collegiate level. That is a difficult jump but they make it a lot easier and I think that really showed this year."
A First-Team Freshman All-America selection, Corless was a finalist for the SoccerBuzz Freshman of the Year. She started all 24 games for Georgia at left back and was part of a defense that posted 10 shutouts in 2007. Corless was also tabbed with crucial corner-kick and set-piece duties, and tallied a goal and five assists off of those opportunities. Corless has become one of the most decorated freshmen in Georgia history, earning First-Team Freshman All-America honors from both SoccerBuzz and the NSCAA. She was named an NSCAA All-Region choice, voted the SEC Freshman of the Year and was a Second-Team All-SEC and SEC All-Freshman selection earlier this season.
"I am honored and thrilled to have received this award along with Dani, Carrie and Caroline," said Corless. "These awards speak volumes for our program and the direction Coach Baker has this program heading. We are all proud to be a part of such a hard-working team and we enjoyed the fall tremendously. The team is looking forward to continuing to make Georgia soccer history."
Simpson has been named a SoccerBuzz Third-Team Freshman All-American. Starting all 24 games at the left midfield position, her 18 points made her the team's second-leading point scorer as she racked up six goals and six assists. Simpson formally announced her arrival to collegiate soccer in the second game of the season, pacing Georgia's 3-1 win against Wisconsin. Simpson accounted for all of the Bulldog offense on the day, becoming the first Bulldog to score a hat-trick since Jessica Winton in 2003 and the first Georgia freshman to ever accomplish the feat.
"I think having so many players make All-America shows where our program is going," said Simpson. "And I expect it to continue with the great class we have coming in next year as much as it has with our current freshman class. This is definitely a great honor, I never expected anything like this coming into the season. I think personally I had a lot of ups and downs and needed to be more consistent and this just adds to my motivation for next year. I want to work harder to keep it up and help the team go even further. The commitment from everyone on our team really paid off this year. Everyone put so much into the program and this is really a reflection of our whole team's effort."
Abelson, a redshirt-freshman, has been named a Fourth-Team Freshman All-America choice. Also a SoccerBuzz Freshman All-Southeast Region selection, she returned to the pitch in 2007 after sitting out the 2006 season following ankle surgery. Upholding her status as a national Top 100 recruit out of high school, Abelson saw action in 22 games, starting all of them at center back alongside Tomlinson. She contributed two goals, both struck from long range, including the game-winning tally in a 1-0 Bulldog road win at Arkansas. Abelson's regular-season efforts also earned SEC All-Freshman recognition.
"First off, congratulations to my other teammates for earning this honor," said Abelson. "As I have said before, I think this speaks to how well our coaches have done recruiting and bringing in the right players for our program, players that can make a difference. For our team to continue to be recognized with all of these postseason honors says a lot about the quality and effort of our team and also how people outside of the view us. We had a terrific regular season, we made a great run in the SEC tournament and we made the NCAA Tournament, so to add this final recognition is a great honor. Right now it makes me want to work that much harder in the spring to get ready for next year. I have set goals for myself to be able to play at this level and I just want to keep working hard to sustain the level of play that got me here."
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