BATON ROUGE — The Southeastern Conference released its second-annual preseason All-SEC team for soccer on Wednesday, and LSU junior Malorie Rutledge was recognized as one of the SEC’s premier midfielders in a vote of the league’s 12 head coaches.
Rutledge, a First-Team All-SEC selection a year ago, joins 11 other standouts from the SEC who have earned preseason first-team recognition.
The coaches preseason All-SEC team is made up of at least 11 standouts from the conference as each of the league’s 12 head coaches voted for three forwards, three midfielders, three defenders, one goalkeeper and one at-large candidate. No ties in the voting were broken.
“Malorie had a phenomenal season a year ago, and she has only continued to get better and better through the offseason and during the first week of fall camp,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “She showed just how far she’s come in our program in two years after having the chance to train with the U-23 U.S. National Team this summer. She’s certainly a special talent.”
The two-time defending champion Florida Gators led all schools with three selections, including midfielders Ameera Abdullah and Ashlee Elliott and defender Lauren Hyde. Georgia’s Carrie Patterson and Tennessee’s Kylee Rossi were the only unanimous selections for this year’s squad.
“The SEC is loaded with very talented players once again, and we certainly have our fair share as we prepare to open the season next weekend,” Lee said. “We’ve had a tremendous camp so far, and we’re working every single day to become the best team we can be. I’m proud of each one of our players for understanding that it’s the team that will determine how far we go this season.”
This marks the second straight season that the Tigers have had a representative on the preseason All-SEC team as defender Chelsea Potts was named to the inaugural team in 2007.
Not only was Rutledge named First-Team All-SEC following the 2007 season, but she was also a Top Drawer Soccer Honorable Mention All-American and a First-Team All-Central Region selection by both Soccer Buzz and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
Rutledge is one of nine starters returning to a squad that captured its first SEC Western Division title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago. The Tigers look to take the next step and contend for their first SEC crown as they kick off the season on Aug. 22 by playing host to South Alabama in a match scheduled for 7 p.m. at the LSU Soccer Complex.
2008 SEC Soccer Coaches Preseason All-SEC Team
F, Caitlin King, Jr., Auburn
F, Carrie Patterson, Jr., Georgia#
F, Kylee Rossi, Sr., Tennessee#
M, Ameera Abdullah, Sr., Florida
M, Ashlee Elliott, Jr., Florida
M, Malorie Rutledge, Jr., LSU
M, Katie Schulz, Sr., Vanderbilt
D, Kelli Corless, So., Georgia
D, Lauren Hyde, Jr., Florida
D, Danielle Johnson, Jr., Ole Miss
D, Blakely Mattern, Jr., South Carolina
GK, Jaimel Johnson, Sr., Tennessee
# – Unanimous selection; Ties were not broken