BATON ROUGE — LSU midfielder and Hermann Trophy candidate Malorie Rutledge leads a group of three Tigers to earn All-SEC recognition this season as she was named this year’s SEC Offensive Player of the Year as announced by the league office Tuesday morning.
Rutledge is the first Tiger in program history to earn SEC Player of the Year honors as she has also been named a First-Team All-SEC performer, while midfielder Melissa Clarke is a Second-Team All-SEC selection and goalkeeper Mo Isom is a member of the SEC All-Freshman Team.
The trio has helped lead the Tigers to unprecedented heights 2008 as the team captured its second straight SEC Western Division crown and locked up the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament.
“There’s no question that each of these three young ladies has played a vital role in the success we’ve enjoyed to this point in the season,” said LSU head coach Brian Lee. “But you also have to credit the talented supporting cast that is around them. We have worked very hard together as a team this year, and we’re excited about where we are heading into the postseason.”
Not only does this mark the first time that an LSU soccer player has been named the SEC Player of the Year, but it is also the first time one has earned first-team honors twice in her career.
Rutledge has proven to be an All-American in every sense of the word as she finished the regular season as the SEC’s leading point scorer with eight goals and 17 assists for 33 points on the year. In addition, she finished as the SEC’s top point scorer in conference play, scoring seven goals and 10 assists for 24 points in 11 league games on the season.
The junior from Sharpsburg, Ga., now ranks No. 2 on the SEC’s single-season records for assists with 17, while she ranks No. 1 in the NCAA while averaging 1.00 assists per game this season.
What might be most impressive is that Rutledge either scored or assisted the game-winning goal in each of LSU’s school record seven wins in SEC play this season. The Tigers will open the SEC Tournament with a 13-3-1 overall record and 7-3-1 mark in conference play.
“I don’t know what else I can say about Malorie Rutledge that hasn’t already been said,” Lee said. “She is the epitome of what it means to be an All-American and has certainly proven that in the way she has performed week in and week out this season. She works as hard as anybody I’ve ever coached and is always looking for some way to improve her game. That’s been a key to her emergence as one of the premier players in the country this season.”
Along with Rutledge, Clarke gives LSU a devastating 1-2 punch in the midfield as she has earned second-team all-conference honors for the second time in her collegiate career.
Clarke, who scored the game-winning goal in LSU’s SEC West clinching 3-1 win over Arkansas, has put her creativity on display this season and enters the postseason with six goals and four assists to her credit this fall. She finished the regular season second to Rutledge in SEC scoring on the team as she tallied four goals and four assists for 12 points in conference play.
The junior from Norcross, Ga., is at full health for the first time in two seasons and has more than regained the form she showed as a true freshman in 2005 when she earned her first career second-team all-conference honor and a selection to the SEC All-Freshman Team.
“Melissa is a very dynamic attacking player and has certainly been a catalyst for us all year long,” Lee said. “She is an incredible 1 v 1 player who has the ability to score goals just as easily as she can set up her teammates for the finish. She and Malorie complement one another very well in the midfield and help give our team one of the top units in the country.”
Not only do the Tigers feature one of the SEC’s top offensive attacks this season, but they feature one of the top defensive units led by one of the nation’s elite freshman goalkeepers in Isom.
Isom, a native of Marietta, Ga., has certainly made her mark on the SEC this season as she has the second best goals against average in the league at 0.68, while her seven shutouts on the season is tied for the top spot this season. In addition, she ranks second among goalkeepers in the SEC with three shutouts and third with a 0.88 goals against average in league play.
Her 0.68 goals against average this fall is a single-season school record at LSU, while she already ranks fourth in program history with seven shutouts this season.
“We feel like Mo is one of the top young goalkeepers in the country and has the potential to grow into one of the nation’s best in her career here at LSU,” Lee said. “We don’t really feel like we’re coaching a freshman when we work with Mo. She has a great understanding of what it takes to be an elite keeper, and we can’t wait to see how she develops the next three years in our program.”
With its second straight SEC Western Division title already in the bag, LSU hopes to add an SEC Tournament championship to its resume as the club opens play in the first round on Wednesday by taking on No. 7 seed Ole Miss with kickoff set for noon CT. The Tigers will carry a No. 2 seed into the tournament, which is their highest seeding in seventh appearances all-time.
2008 SEC Soccer Awards
Coach of the Year
Becky Burleigh, Florida
Offensive Player of the Year
Malorie Rutledge, LSU
Defensive Player of the Year
Megan Tomlinson, Georgia
Freshman of the Year
Katy Frierson, Auburn
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Allison Whitworth, Auburn
First-Team All-SEC
F, Ameera Abdullah, Florida
F, Megan Kerns, Florida
F, Carrie Patterson, Georgia
F, Kylee Rossi, Tennessee
F, Molly Kinsella, Vanderbilt
M, Katy Frierson, Auburn
M, Ashlee Elliott, Florida
M, Malorie Rutledge, LSU
D, Megan Tomlinson, Georgia
D, Danielle Johnson, Ole Miss
D, Blakely Mattern, South Carolina
GK, Allison Whitworth, Auburn
Second-Team All-SEC
F, Brooke Rogers, Alabama
F, Lindsay Patterson, Arkansas
F, Kayla Grimsley, South Carolina
M, Nicola Holdsworth, Kentucky
M, Melissa Clarke, LSU
M, Jennifer Hance, Ole Miss
M, Christine Breaux, Ole Miss
D, Lauren Hyde, Florida
D, Bailey Powell, Georgia
D, Kate Hughes, Kentucky
GK, Jaimel Johnson, Tennessee
SEC All-Freshman Team
M, Katy Frierson, Auburn
M, Julie King, Auburn
M, Tahnai Annis, Florida
D, Jazmyne Avant, Florida
M, Lindsay Thompson, Florida
F, Ashley Miller, Georgia
D, Bailey Powell, Georgia
GK, Mo Isom, LSU
F, Kayla Grimsley, South Carolina
M, Chelsea Hatcher, Tennessee
F, Candace West, Vanderbilt