BATON ROUGE — Three members of the LSU soccer team were named First-Team All-Louisiana for their performance in the 2005 season, it was announced by the Louisiana Sportswriters Association on Sunday.
LSU is one of four state schools with multiple players on the First-Team as LSU-Shreveport, Northwestern State and Southern each placed two players on the 11-person squad.
Freshman midfielder Melissa Clarke was named the Louisiana Player of the Year after leading the Tigers to their first appearance in the SEC Tournament since 2002. Her game-winning goal against Arkansas on Oct. 28 was the first of her young career and clinched the No. 8 seed in the tournament for LSU. Clarke also recorded an assist against the Lady Razorbacks and received SEC Freshman of the Week honors for her performance.
The native of Norcross, Ga., was also named Second-Team All-SEC and a member of the SEC All-Freshman Team after scoring one goal and recording four assists on the season and leading the team with 37 total shots, including 10 shots on goal.
Senior forward Kate Ripple and sophomore midfielder Caroline Vanderpool join Clarke on the First-Team. Ripple led the Tigers with eight goals and 17 points on the season, and those numbers rank tied for fourth and tied for sixth in the SEC, respectively. The Baton Rouge native also led the way with four goals in conference play, and she recorded the first multi-goal game of her career with two goals against McNeese State on Sept. 13.
Vanderpool tied the LSU single-game record with three assists against Jackson State on Sept. 11, and she finished the season tied for sixth in the SEC with a team-leading six assists. Vanderpool’s only goal of the season was a game-winner as she led the Tigers to a 2-0 victory over Belmont on Sept. 9.
The All-Louisiana Team was selected by the state’s sports information contacts for women’s soccer.
2005 LSWA Women’s Soccer All-Louisiana Team
Player of the Year
Melissa Clarke, LSU
Freshman of the Year
Emily Cleaveland, Louisiana Tech
Coach of the Year
Jed Jones, LSU-Shreveport
First Team
Melissa Clarke, LSU
Emily Cleaveland, Louisiana Tech
Julie Zavala, Northwestern State
Kate Ripple, LSU
Heather Penico, Northwestern State
Shaderia Evans, LSU-Shreveport
Merdlyn Matthews, Southern
Caroline Vanderpool, LSU
Kendall Smith, Southern
Katrina Blackwell, LSU-Shreveport
Ali Hilsher, Centenary
Honorable Mention
Almarie Soto-Ortiz, Southern
Charmaine Jones, Southern
Ja’Nae Powell, McNeese State
Ashley Hadley, Northwestern State
Erin Hebert, Northwestern State
Michelle Williamson, LSU-Shreveport
Lindsey Webb, Louisiana-Lafayette
Tara Powasnik, Northwestern State
Jamika Pugh, Southern
Savannah Russo, Louisiana Tech