BATON ROUGE – LSU junior defender Allysha Chapman was honored Tuesday for her performance as one of the premier left backs in college soccer as she was named a First-Team All-SEC performer with an announcement of this year’s all-conference selections by the league office.
A native of Courtice, Ontario, Canada, Chapman has earned All-SEC recognition for the second time as a Tiger as she received a second-team selection in her first season with the program in 2009.
Two members of LSU’s highly-touted freshman class have also been honored for their performance in the 2010 season as striker Addie Eggleston and goalkeeper Megan Kinneman each earned SEC All-Freshman Team selections with the release of the league’s postseason awards on Tuesday.
The trio will help lead the Tigers into the postseason on Wednesday as LSU has earned the No. 6 seed for the 2010 SEC Women’s Soccer Tournament in Orange Beach, Ala.
Chapman has led one of the elite defensive units in the SEC this season as the Tigers rank No. 3 with only 15 goals allowed and No. 4 with a 0.75 team goals against average in 19 matches this fall. She has started 18 of 19 games for the Tigers this season and has cracked LSU’s starting 11 in 42 of 43 matches dating to the start of her LSU career as a sophomore in the fall of 2009.
Chapman has also joined the attack at times this season while recording a career-high three assists for the year, including an assist on Natalie Martineau‘s game-tying goal with less than three minutes to play in an exciting 1-1 draw on the road at Tennessee on the opening weekend of SEC play.
The sides will square off in the opening round of the SEC Tournament on Wednesday as the No. 6 seeded Tigers battle the No. 3 seeded Lady Volunteers at 2:30 p.m. CT at the Orange Beach Sportsplex.
With Chapman’s selection Tuesday, the LSU soccer program has been represented with a First-Team All-SEC selection in four-straight seasons dating back to the 2007 campaign in which the Tigers won the first of three-straight SEC Western Division titles and earned the first of three consecutive at-large bids for the NCAA Tournament. LSU now has seven First-Team All-SEC selections all-time.
While Chapman is an established All-America candidate as the premier left back in the SEC, the future of the LSU program has also been recognized as members of the SEC All-Freshman Team as both Eggleston and Kinneman have emerged as two of the elite young talents in the conference.
Kinneman received All-SEC consideration while starting 12 matches in goal for the Tigers, posting a total of five shutouts with an impressive 0.70 goals against average in 1,154 minutes of action for her freshman campaign. That includes four shutouts and a 0.74 GAA in 10 SEC starts this fall.
A native of Missouri City, Texas, Kinneman is certainly a Freshman All-America candidate this season as she ranks No. 3 among all goalkeepers in the SEC in goals against average.
With Kinneman anchoring the LSU defense throughout the SEC season, Eggleston has helped guide LSU up front while cracking the starting lineup in 18 of 19 matches this season. The Houston native has scored two goals and seven assists for 11 points, including assists on both of LSU’s goals in a 2-1 victory against Auburn on Oct. 3 and the game-winning goal in a 1-0 shutout of Arkansas on Friday night.
2010 SEC Soccer Awards
Coach of the Year
Becky Burleigh, Florida
Offensive Player of the Year
Kayla Grimsley, South Carolina
Defensive Player of the Year
Kat Williamson, Florida
Freshman of the Year
Taylor Travis, Florida
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Molly Kinsella, Vanderbilt
First-Team All-SEC
Attacker, Katy Frierson, Jr., Auburn
Attacker, Kayla Grimsley, Jr., South Carolina
Attacker, Chelsea Hatcher, Jr., Tennessee
Attacker, Alexa Newfield, Fr., Georgia
Attacker, Erika Tymrak, So., Florida
Defender, Allysha Chapman, Jr., LSU
Defender, Ashlee Elliott, Sr., Florida
Defender, Julie King, Jr., Auburn
Defender, Brittiny Rhoades, Sr., South Carolina
Defender, Kat Williamson, So., Florida
Goalkeeper, Justine Bernier, Jr., Alabama
Second-Team All-SEC
Attacker, Kelsey Allison, Sr., Arkansas
Attacker, Tahnai Annis, Jr., Florida
Attacker, Victoria Frederick, Sr., Alabama
Attacker, Molly Kinsella, Sr., Vanderbilt
Attacker, Taylor Travis, Fr., Florida
Defender, Ellen Fahey, Jr., South Carolina
Defender, Alix Hildal, So., Ole Miss
Defender, Laura Novikoff, Sr., Kentucky
Defender, Rebekah Perry, So., Georgia
Defender, Sammy Towne, Sr., Auburn
Goalkeeper, Ashley Baker, So., Georgia
All-Freshman Team
Torri Allen, Georgia
Molly Atherton, Alabama
Danielle Au, South Carolina
Addie Eggleston, LSU
Melanie Foncham, Arkansas
Megan Kinneman, LSU
Caitlin Landis, Kentucky
Mandy McCalla, Ole Miss
Alexa Newfield, Georgia
Claire Romaine, Vanderbilt
Taylor Travis, Florida