BATON ROUGE – While earning a reputation as one of the SEC’s elite defensive performers during her brilliant collegiate career, LSU defensive midfielder Allysha Chapman was honored Tuesday afternoon as the SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year with the release of the league’s 2011 postseason soccer awards.
Senior Taryne Boudreau joined Chapman as a First-Team All-SEC selection for 2011, while fellow senior Natalie Martineau was honored as a Second-Team All-SEC performer for the first time in her career.
The senior trio leads a group of five Tigers claiming All-SEC recognition for the 2011 season as freshmen defenders Alex Arlitt and Jodi Calloway were also named to the SEC All-Freshman Team on Tuesday for their outstanding performance in leading the LSU defense as rookies this fall.
This marks the third time in program history that two Tigers have earned First-Team All-SEC recognition in the same postseason as they also accomplished the feat in 2007 and 2009.
The Tigers finished as the SEC runners-up for the third time in four seasons while capturing a fourth SEC Western Division championship in five seasons after posting a 12-6-1 overall record and an 8-3 mark and 24 points in league play. LSU also finished in second place in the SEC Championship race in consecutive seasons in 2008 and 2009 while earning the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament.
The Tigers will compete as the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament again this week as they battle the No. 7 seed Auburn on Wednesday at noon CT at the Orange Beach Sportsplex in Orange Beach, Ala.
Chapman has proven to be an All-American in every sense of the word as she’s now a three-time All-SEC performer while earning all-conference honors in each of her three seasons with the Tigers. After securing a second-team selection as a sophomore in 2009, Chapman has received back-to-back first-team honors in each of the last two seasons as a junior in 2010 and as a senior this fall.
Chapman is the first LSU Tiger in program history to be selected as the SEC Defensive Player of the Year as she shares honors this fall with South Carolina’s Sabrina D’Angelo and Auburn’s Julie King.
A native of Courtice, Ontario, Canada, Chapman is the anchor of LSU’s defensive unit that has pitched an SEC-leading five shutouts in league play this fall. She has also joined in the attack at times this year while scoring one goal and dishing out two assists for a career-high four points on the campaign.
Boudreau has also displayed an All-American form with her performance in 2011 as she has emerged as a feared scoring threat with a career-high 12 goals and 30 points and a team-high six game-winning goals in leading LSU’s offensive attack this fall. That includes nine goals and 22 points with five game-winners in SEC play this season as Boudreau is tied as the SEC’s leading scorer in conference action.
A native of Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada, Boudreau was also twice selected the SEC Offensive Player of the Week this season in back-to-back weeks on Sept. 26 and Oct. 3 at the start of the SEC campaign.
Martineau has joined Boudreau in giving the Tigers a devastating 1-2 punch in the attack this fall as she is among the NCAA leaders with a career-high 10 assists this campaign. She has also scored four goals for a career-high 18 points while elevating her performance to an all-conference level. Martineau, a native from Oakville, Ontario, Canada, has scored three goals and seven assists for 13 points in league play.
While Chapman has provided a defensive presence for the Tigers in the midfield this season, the back line has been anchored by a pair of SEC All-Freshman Team selections in Texans Arlitt and Calloway.
Calloway is emerging as one of the SEC’s top young center backs with her effort this year, highlighted by a selection as the SEC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 12, and as a member of the Soccer America Women’s National Team of the Week on Sept. 14 as the Defensive MVP of the LSU Invitational.
A native of Denton, Texas, Calloway has certainly regained the form that earned her recognition as one of the nation’s Top 100 recruits in 2010 after missing her true freshman season with a severe knee injury.
Arlitt, who hails from Houston, Texas, has certainly proven herself as one of the more versatile athletes in LSU’s starting 11 this season, while splitting time as LSU’s starting center back, right back and defensive midfielder during her rookie campaign. Arlitt’s presence has also been felt in the attack this fall as she has scored two goals and dished out three assists for seven points on the campaign.
2011 SEC Soccer Awards
Coach of the Year
Shelley Smith, South Carolina
Offensive Player of the Year
Kayla Grimsley, South Carolina
Co-Defensive Players of the Year
Allysha Chapman, LSU
Sabrina D’Angelo, South Carolina
Julie King, Auburn
Freshman of the Year
Sabrina D’Angelo, South Carolina
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Katy Frierson, Auburn
First-Team All-SEC
Attacker, Taryne Boudreau, Sr., LSU
Attacker, Katy Frierson, Sr., Auburn
Attacker, Kayla Grimsley, Sr., South Carolina
Attacker, Alexa Newfield, So., Georgia
Attacker, Erika Tymrak, Jr., Florida
Defender, Allysha Chapman, Sr., LSU
Defender, Ellen Fahey, Sr., South Carolina
Defender, Julie King, Sr., Auburn
Defender, Jamie Pollock, Sr., Georgia
Defender, Kathryn Williamson, Jr., Florida
Goalkeeper, Sabrina D’Angelo, Fr., South Carolina
Second-Team All-SEC
Attacker, Caroline Brown, So., Tennessee
Attacker, Emily Dowd, Sr., Tennessee
Attacker, Allie Chandler, Jr., Arkansas
Attacker, Kelsey Hunyadi, Jr., Kentucky
Attacker, Dylan Jordan, Sr., Ole Miss
Attacker, Natalie Martineau, Sr., LSU
Defender, Jazmyne Avant, Sr., Florida
Defender, Arin Gilliland, Fr., Kentucky
Defender, Alix Hildal, Jr., Ole Miss
Defender, Holly King, Jr., Florida
Defender, Meredith Snow, Sr., Ole Miss
Goalkeeper, Justine Bernier, Sr., Alabama
All-Freshman Team
Alex Arlitt, LSU
Jodi Calloway, LSU
Tatiana Coleman, Auburn
Sabrina D’Angelo, South Carolina
Theresa Diederich, Alabama
Julie Eckel, Tennessee
Arin Gilliland, Kentucky
Cherrelle Jarrett, Vanderbilt
Jeri Ann Okoro, Arkansas
Jenna Owens, Georgia
Pia Rijsdijk, Alabama
Havana Solaun, Florida
Annie Speese, Florida