Wake Forest Athletics
Katie Stengel Named ACC Offensive Player of the Year
11/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 3, 2011
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest's Katie Stengel has been named the 2011 ACC Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Year, as announced by the conference Thursday.
Stengel joined goalkeeper Aubrey Bledsoe on the All-ACC First Team, while defender Caralee Keppler made the All-ACC Second Team. Midfielder Riley Ridgik and defender Kim Marshall were selected to the ACC All-Freshman Team. All of the ACC awards are determined by a vote of the conference's 11 head coaches.
Last year's ACC Freshman of the Year, Stengel is the first-ever Demon Deacon to earn ACC Player of the Year honors. She joins Emily Taggart and Jill Hutchinson as the only Wake Forest players to make the All-ACC First Team on multiple occasions.
Bledsoe and Keppler both earned All-ACC honors for the first time in their careers. They give the Demon Deacons three players on the all-conference squad for the first time since 2007. With Marshall and Ridgik, Wake Forest has two players on the All-Freshman team for the second year in a row after Stengel and Rachel Nuzzolese both made the rookie squad last season.
Stengel leads all ACC players with 0.76 goals per game and 1.82 points per game scoring clips. Her 13 goals this season rank as the third-most in school history and are only three goals behind her school record of 16 that she set as a freshman last season. In only two seasons at Wake Forest, Stengel has already scored 29 goals, tied for the third-most for a Demon Deacon in an entire career.
Bledsoe has established herself as one of the conference's top goalkeepers, building on last season where she won ACC Tournament MVP honors after helping lead the Demon Deacons to their first-ever ACC Championship. The sophomore from Cincinnati, Ohio native played every minute of the 2011 season in goal for the Deacons, allowing only 12 goals all season. She has set a new Wake Forest single-season record with 11 shutouts and ranks third in the conference with a 0.61 goals against average.
In her second season at Wake Forest, Keppler has earned a reputation as one of the conference's best defenders. She has started 18 of the Deacons' 19 games this season and has been a major component of the back line that has allowed only 67 shots on goal all year, the second-fewest of any ACC team. Behind the efforts of Keppler and her fellow defenders, Wake Forest holds a 0.61 goals against average that ranks as the second-lowest in the ACC.
Ridgik is one of only three Demon Deacons to start all 19 games this. A versatile midfielder, she has scored two goals off of set-pieces this season, both game-winners, including the deciding goal that send Wake Forest past Boston College 3-2 in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament last Sunday.
Marshall has been a steadying force at center back and in the defensive midfield this season for Wake Forest, appearing in every game and starting all but two of them. In addition to being a major part of the Deacons' staunch defense this year, she also scored the first goal of her career off of a corner kick in Wake Forest's ACC Tournament quarterfinal match with Boston College last Sunday, helping the Deacs to a 3-2 victory.
Duke's Natasha Anasi was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and Virginia's Morgan Brian earned ACC Freshman of the Year honors. Robbie Church, the head coach of regular-season champion Duke, was named the ACC Coach of the Year.
The defending ACC champion Demon Deacons are the No. 5 seed in this year's ACC Tournament and after beating Boston College in the quarterfinals last Sunday, will face No. 1 seed Duke on Friday in the semifinals at 5:30 p.m. at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. Video of the game will be available online at ESPN3.com.
2011 All-ACC Women's Soccer Team
First Team
Pos. - Name, Class, School
M - Kristen Mewis, Jr.., Boston College
M - Kaitlyn Kerr, So., Duke
D - Natasha Anasi, So., Duke
M - Tori Huster, Sr., Florida State
D - Ines Jaurena, Jr., Florida State
F - Tiffany McCarty, Jr., Florida State
M - Amber Brooks, Jr., North Carolina
F - Crystal Dunn, So., North Carolina
M - Morgan Brian, Fr., Virginia
F - Caroline Miller, Jr., Virginia
GK - Aubrey Bledsoe, So., Wake Forest
F - Katie Stengel, So., Wake Forest
Second Team
Pos. - Name, Class, School
D - Alaina Beyar, Sr., Boston College
M - Julia Bouchelle, Sr., Boston College
GK - Tara Campbell, Jr., Duke
F - Kelly Cobb, Fr., Duke
F - Mollie Pathman, So., Duke
F - Laura Weinberg, So. Duke
F - Jasmyne Spencer, Sr., Maryland
F - Kate Howarth, Jr., Miami
F - Kealia Ohai, So., North Carolina
M - Kelly Conheeney, Jr., Virginia Tech
F - Jazmine Reeves, So., Virginia Tech
D - Caralee Keppler, Jr., Wake Forest
Offensive Player of the Year - Katie Stengel, Wake Forest
Defensive Player of the Year - Natasha Anasi, Duke
Freshman of the Year - Morgan Brian, Virginia
Coach of the Year - Robbie Church, Duke
2011 ACC All-Freshmen Women's Soccer Team
Pos. - Name, School
F - Stephanie McCaffrey, Boston College
D - Casey Morrison, Boston College
M - Liska Dobberstein, Clemson
F - Kelly Cobb, Duke
M - Dagny Brynjarsdottir, Florida State
F - Jamia Fields, Florida State
D - Shelli Spamer, NC State
D - Olivia Brannon, Virginia
M - Danielle Colaprico, Virginia
F - Morgan Brian, Virginia
D - Kim Marshall, Wake Forest
M - Riley Ridgik, Wake Forest
