Thomas More College head women’s soccer coach Jeff Cummings was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Women’s Soccer Coach of the Year and six Saints were selected to the All-PAC team by the conference’s 10 head coaches.
The award is Cummings’ fourth as Thomas More’s women’s coach. The eighth-ranked Saints are making their fifth-straight appearance in the Division III Championship after earning the PAC’s automatic qualifying bid by winning their fifth-straight PAC Championship Tournament title.
Thomas More will play eighth-ranked and in-state rival Centre College in the NCAA Sectional Semifinals in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The match will be on Friday at 1:30 p.m. on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University
Thomas More posted a 1-0 shutout against the University of Chicago Sunday afternoon in the second round of the NCA Division III Women’s Soccer Championship and has advanced to the Championship’s sectional semifinals for the third-straight season.
Junior goalkeeper Megan Barton (Florence, Ky./Villa Madonna), junior midfielder Laura Felix (Burlington, Ky./St. Henry), sophomore forward Julia Flagge-Echols (Colerain, Ohio/Colerain), senior forward Olivia Huber (Woodlawn, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) and junior midfielder Taylor Robinson (Alexandria, Ky./Campbell County) were named first team All-PAC.
Barton has started all 21 matches in goal for the Saints has given up only three goals (0.15 goal against average) and recorded 49 saves, while posting a school-record 14 shutouts in 1,805:19 of action. Felix was fourth on the team in scoring with 13 points on five goals and three assists, while scoring one game-winning goal. Flagge-Echols is tied for the team lead in scoring with 62 points on 24 goals, including eight game winners, and a team-best 14 assists.
Huber is tied the team lead in scoring with 62 points on team leading 26 goals and 10 assists, while scoring six game winners. Robinson has eight points on three goals and two assists and helped the Saints’ defense post 18 shutouts.
Junior midfielder Erika LaRosa (Cincinnati, Ohio/Seton) was named honorable mention All-PAC. She is third on the team in scoring with 15 points on six goals and three assists and has two game winners.
Saints forward Juniet grabs PAC Men’s Soccer Player of the Year honors
Thomas More College senior forward Austin Juniet (Fort Thomas, Ky./Newport Central Catholic) was named the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Men’s Soccer Player of the Year and five Saints were named All-PAC by the conference’s nine head coaches.
A three-time All-PAC First Team selection, Juniet is the fifth Thomas More player, and first since Alex Oeswein in 2011, to earn Player of the Year honors. He led the PAC in points (55), assists (23), and game-winning scores (6), and was third in total goals scored (16). As of Nov. 8, he led all NCAA Division III counterparts in assists, and assists per game (1.15), and was second in points per game (2.75).
Juniet was joined on the first team All-PAC by senior midfielder RJ Best (Lorton, Va./South County Secondary), junior midfielder Tim Knauer (Batavia, Ohio/Batavia) and junior forward Brian Runyon (Parkersburg, W.Va./Parkersburg). Best played in 19 matches for the Saints and had 12 points on four goals, including one game-winner and four assists.
Knauer appeared in all 20 matches for the Saints and had six points on one goal (a game winner) and four assists. Runyon was second on the team in scoring with 44 points on 17 goals, including two game-winners and 10 assists.
Junior midfielder Alex Panaro (Lawrenceburg, Ind./Lawrenceburg) was named honorable mention All-PAC after he had four points on two goals.
Thomas More, who finished the regular season ranked No. 9 in the nation, finished the season at 16-3-1 and advanced to its seventh-straight NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.
From TMC Athletics