10-27-2023 4:28am

SOCCER #1 IN

WOMEN’S SOCCER EARNS FOUR MAJOR AWARDS; SIX TOTAL TIGERS EARN ALL-CAA HONORS

Towson University women's soccer won four of the six major awards handed out in the end of the season Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) awards, the league announced Wednesday. The Tigers will enter the CAA Championships as the one seed after winning their first CAA regular season title in program history on Sunday.

Nia Christopher and head coach Katherine Vettori were unanimously named Attacking Player of the Year and Coach of the Year respectively as voted on by the league's head coaches. Jasmine Hamid was named Midfielder of the Year and Riley Melendez was named Goalkeeper of the Year for the second consecutive season, becoming the first player in CAA history to earn back-to-back Goalkeeper of the Year honors.

Christopher, Hamid and Melendez were also named to the All-CAA First Team along with redshirt senior Phoebe Canoles. It is the first time Canoles has earned First Team honors in her career.

Christopher currently ranks 13th in the country in goals with 12 and assists with nine and is top ten in the nation in points with 33. This season, the Bermuda native broke the program record for goals, game-winning goals and points and earned All-CAA First Team honors for the third consecutive year.

Hamid earns First Team honors for the first time in her career and leads the league in goals (13), which ranks eighth nationally while also ranking 11th in points with 29.

Melendez becomes the first player in CAA history to be named Goalkeeper of the Year in back-to-back seasons after winning the award in 2022. Melendez is also on the First Team for the second straight season. The Virginia native has a 0.60 goals-against average and .828 save percentage, recording eight shutouts. Melendez has allowed a league-low 10 goals this season.

Katherine Vettori was a unanimous selection as Coach of the Year, leading the Tigers to their first CAA regular season title in program history. The Tigers are 13-2-2 and finished the CAA season at 9-1-2. The 13 wins is second most in a single season and is just one shy of the record.

In addition to the three major award winners, Phoebe Canoles was named to the All-CAA First Team after finishing the regular season with eight goals and eight assists for 24 points.

Demi Pierre and Maja Hansson earned All-CAA Third Team honors after being big contributors to a Tigers defense that has a +29-goal differential which ranks 13th nationally. Pierre has a goal and four assists with Hansson adding one goal and one assist in 2023.

The Tigers will have a bye into the CAA Championship Semifinals on Sunday, Oct. 29 at 1 p.m. at Tiger Field. Towson will play the winner of No. 4 Northeastern and No. 5 William & Mary, who will play at Tiger Field on Thursday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinals. All games will stream on FloFC and admission to all games at Tiger Field are free of charge.