Belisle Named SEC Forward of the Year

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – Following a historic scoring season, graduate forward Mollie Belisle was named SEC Forward of the Year Sunday morning, one of six postseason honors awarded to the University of Georgia soccer team in a vote of the league's coaches.

Belisle was also named to the First Team All-SEC, while seniors Cecily Stoute (defender) and Abby Boyan (at-large) were selected for the Second Team. Additionally, freshmen Jessie Dunn and Danielle Lewin earned spots on the SEC All-Freshman Team. Earlier this week, Belisle was also named to the SEC Community Service Team for the second time this season.

Belisle is the first Georgia player to receive an SEC Player of the Year honor since Megan Tomlinson was named Defensive Player of the Year in 2008. The current Forward of the Year award was instituted in the 2019 season. During her fifth season in Athens, Belisle established herself as one of the nation's top goal scorers, placing third in the nation with 15, along with finishing seventh in points at 33. Both her goal and point totals are the fourth-most in a single season by a Georgia player. The Atlanta native is also only the fourth player in program history to post five multi-goal performances in a season, having already tallied five. In conference play, she led the league in shots, tied for the lead in goals, and tied for second in points.

Belisle also came up clutch in multiple moments for the Bulldogs with six game-winning goals, including scoring an overtime winner over then-No. 5 LSU, posting two goals against then-No. 15 Clemson, and scoring the match winner in the closing minutes against Florida. Following the Clemson match, she was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week and the United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Week. She was also twice named to TopDrawerSoccer's National Team of the Week.

Stoute was named to the Second Team All-SEC for the second-consecutive season after serving as the anchor of Georgia's backline. Stoute tallied the fifth-most minutes (1,460) of any player on the team and helped lead a unit that only allowed 26 goals, 11 shots per match, and 78 corner kicks this season. The Atlanta native also contributed on offense with two assists in consecutive matches against Wofford and Presbyterian. Boyan was named to the All-SEC Team for the second-straight season after earning First Team honors in 2020. The Spring Lake, New Jersey native finished second on the team in minutes (1,604) and finished third on the team with 17 points, tallying five goals and seven assists.

Dunn and Lewin are the first Bulldogs to be named to the Freshman All-SEC Team since Chloe Chapman in 2019. Dunn started in all 18 regular season matches on the backline, accumulating 1,567 minutes, the fourth-most on the team. The Charlotte native also earned an assist against Belmont when her clearance set up a goal for teammate Tori Penn in the final minute of the first half. Lewin opened her first year at Georgia with a blistering non-conference season, scoring seven goals in the first eight matches of the season. The Lawrenceville native notched two in the season opener against Campbell and sealed the Bulldogs' upset win over Clemson with a late first-half score.

Eighth-seeded Georgia (11-5-2, 4-4-2 SEC) opens its run in the SEC Tournament Sunday with a rematch against ninth-seeded LSU (11-6-0, 4-6-0 SEC) at 4:30 p.m. EDT at the Orange Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Alabama. The match will be aired live on SEC Network. If the Bulldogs earn their second victory this season over the Tigers, they will advance to Tuesday's quarterfinal against top-seeded Arkansas at 6 p.m. EDT.

For complete information on Georgia soccer, follow the team on its social media channels via @UGASoccer on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

First Team All-SEC
Forward: Anna Podojil, Arkansas
Forward: Mollie Belisle, Georgia
Forward: Tinaya Alexander, LSU
Forward: Mackenzie George, Tennessee
Midfielder: Parker Goins, Arkansas
Midfielder: Anna Haddock, Auburn
Midfielder: Channing Foster, Ole Miss
Midfielder: Raegan Kelley, Vanderbilt
Defender: Reyna Reyes, Alabama
Defender: Bryana Hunter, Arkansas
Defender: Alyssa Malonson, Auburn
Defender: Jyllissa Harris, South Carolina
Goalkeeper: Ashley Orkus, Ole Miss
At Large: Taylor Malham, Arkansas

Second Team All-SEC
Forward: Marissa Arias, Auburn
Forward: Kit Loferski, Florida
Forward: Jordyn Rhodes, Kentucky
Forward: Haleigh Stackpole, Ole Miss
Forward: Jaida Thomas, Tennessee
Midfielder: Kayla McKeon, Arkansas
Midfielder: Molly Martin, Ole Miss
Midfielder: Taylor Huff, Tennessee
Midfielder: Barbara Olivieri, Texas A&M
Midfielder: Maddie Elwell, Vanderbilt
Defender: Cecily Stoute, Georgia
Defender: Andrea Tyrell, Mississippi State
Defender: Wrenne French, Tennessee
Defender: Katie Smith, Texas A&M
Defender: Maya Antoine, Vanderbilt
Goalkeeper: Maddy Anderson, Mississippi State
At Large: Abby Boyan, Georgia

All-Freshman Team
Sophia Aragon, Arkansas
Jessie Dunn, Georgia
Danielle Lewin, Georgia
Ally Perry, Mississippi State
Milena Fischer, Missouri
Jordan Fusco, Tennessee
Taylor Huff, Tennessee
Claire Rain, Tennessee
Maile Hayes, Texas A&M
Mia Pante, Texas A&M
Quinn Cornog, Vanderbilt

Coach of the Year
Brian Pensky, Tennessee

Forward of the Year
Mollie Belisle, Georgia

Midfielder of the Year
Parker Goins, Arkansas

Defender of the Year
Alyssa Malonson, Auburn

Goalkeeper of the Year
Ashley Orkus, Ole Miss

Freshman of the Year
Taylor Huff, Tennessee

Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Bryana Hunter, Arkansas

Players Mentioned

Mollie Belisle

Abby Boyan

Chloe Chapman

Jessie Dunn

Danielle Lewin

Tori Penn

Cecily Stoute

Related Videos