Savannah Jordan & Christen Westphal SEC Soccer Players of the Year

GAINESVILLE, Florida – A pair of Gators pick up Southeastern Conference Soccer Player of the Year honors in the 2015 awards release unveiled by the league Sunday afternoon.


SEC Standings
(Final)

Team	SEC	Pts	Overall	PCT
Florida	8-2-1	25	14-3-1	.806
Missouri	7-2-2	23	9-4-5	.639
Mississippi	7-4-0	21	13-4-2	.737
Auburn	7-4-0	21	14-4-0	.778
South Carolina	6-3-2	20	12-4-2	.722
Texas A&M	6-4-1	19	13-5-1	.711
LSU	5-4-2	17	11-4-4	.684
Vanderbilt	4-4-3	15	8-7-4	.526
Kentucky	3-5-3	12	9-6-4	.579
Georgia	4-7-0	12	5-11-1	.324
Tennessee	3-5-3	12	7-5-6	.556
Mississippi State	3-6-2	11	5-10-3	.361
Arkansas	2-8-1	7	6-11-1	.361
Alabama	2-9-0	6	5-12-2	.342


2015 SEC Tournament Schedule
Play-in Matches (Nov. 2):
Match 1 at 4:30pm ET:	[7] LSU vs [10] Kentucky
Match 2 at 7 pm ET:	[8] Vanderbilt vs [9] Georgia

Round of Eight (Nov. 4):
Match 3 at 1pm ET:	[2] Missouri vs Match 1 winner
Match 4 at 3:30 pm ET:	[3] Mississippi vs [6] Texas A&M
Match 5 at 6 pm ET:	[1] Florida vs Match 2 winner
Match 6 at 8:30 pm ET:	[4] Auburn vs [5] South Carolina

Semifinal (Nov. 6):
Match 7 at 4:30 pm ET:	Match 3 winner vs Match 4 winner
Match 8 at 7 pm ET:	Match 5 winner vs Match 6 winner

Final (Nov. 8):
Match 9 at 2 pm ET:	Match 7 winner vs. Match 8 winner

Junior Savannah Jordan is the SEC Offensive Player of the Year and senior Christen Westphal is the SEC Defender of the Year. Jordan also took the offensive honor in 2013.

This is the second time the Gators swept the top individual honors since the league began awarding an offensive and defensive player of the year in 2004. In 2012, Florida's Erika Tymrak claimed the offensive award and Holly King took the defensive honor.

Florida led all programs with three on the 2015 All-SEC first team. Joining Jordan and Westphal on the All-SEC first team is senior defender Claire Falknor. Junior midfielder Meggie Dougherty Howard is an All-SEC second team selection. Mayra Pelayo is part of the SEC All-Freshman team.

Here's a look at the season notes for Florida's 2015 All-SEC honorees:

First team:

Defender – Claire Falknor: All-Southeastern Conference first team… Second consecutive All-SEC honor, as a second-team selection in 2014… Started every match, playing the entirety of 15… Can play center back or outside back… Averages 90.3 minutes per match… Provided assist on Savannah Jordan's goal versus LSU… Named to U.S. Under-23 team for 2015 Four Nations Tournament played in Norway at end of May… Appeared in two matches, starting versus Sweden.

Forward – Savannah Jordan: Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Year – second such honor as also received 2013 award… All-SEC first team for third consecutive year… Second in nation with 19 goals and 43 points (through Oct. 29 play) – those totals lead the SEC… Two-time SEC Offensive Player of Week in 2015… Top 10 on two Gator career charts – No. T4 goals (60) and No. 6 points (136)… Scored 60^th collegiate goal in 65^th appearance – matching Abby Wambach as second quickest Gator to reach 60 goals in school history… Two goals at Georgia is fifth multi-goal match of season and 16^th of career… College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District IV first team – now advances to national ballot… Named to MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List… Named to U.S. Under-23 team for Four Nations Tournament played in Norway at end of May… Appeared in two matches, starting versus England.

Defender – Christen Westphal: Southeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year… All-SEC every year of collegiate career, including three consecutive appearances on first team… Played the entirety of 15 matches as center back… Leads Gators with 10 assists, which is tied for first in the SEC and T7th in the nation (through Oct. 29 play)… Third among Gators with 12 points… Averages 90 minutes per match… Among the 2015 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List… Named to U.S. Under-23 team for 2015 Four Nations Tournament held in Norway at end of May, playing the entirety of each of the event's three matches.

All-SEC Second Team:

Midfielder – Meggie Dougherty Howard: All-Southeastern Conference second team at midfield… .Opened Florida's scoring with goal at 2:11 of match at Jacksonville… Hit game-winning goal at Mississippi State from 17 yards… First assist of season came on Savannah Jordan's goal versus No. 1 Florida State… Provided assist on Liz Slattery's game-winning goal at Tennessee… Six assists stands second among the Gators and is tied for seventh in the league… Played for the 2015 USL W-League championship team, the Washington Spirit Reserves, in summer of 2015… W-League Southeastern Conference team selection… Named to the USL W-League All-League team - one of five on all-league team also on a collegiate roster.

SEC All-Freshman Team:

Midfielder – Mayra Pelayo: Southeastern Conference All-Freshman team… First shot of collegiate career scored from 22 yards for game-winner at No. 17 UCF… Provided assist on Savannah Jordan's final goal at Miami and Jordan's goal versus then No. 6 Texas A&M… Also registered assist on Brooke Sharp's goal at Florida International… Drew penalty kick which started Gators' scoring at Auburn… Started 12 matches at attacking midfield.

In other awards announced Sunday, Mississippi's CeCe Kizer is the SEC Freshman of the Year. Alabama's Abby Lutzenkirchen and Auburn's Casie Ramsier are Co-SEC Soccer Scholar-Athletes of the Year. Coach of the Year is Missouri's Bryan Blitz.

The Gators now head to the SEC Tournament in Orange Beach, Alabama. Top-seeded Florida opens play Wednesday at 6 p.m. ET, facing the winner of Monday's play-in match between No. 8 seed Vanderbilt and No. 9 Georgia.

The Gators dropped out of the 2014 SEC Tournament quarterfinal when Tennessee claimed a 5-4 penalty kick advantage after the two teams played to a 1-1 double overtime time. The Gators have claimed the tournament title 10 times in the program's 20 previous appearances.

All action in the play-in, opening and semifinal rounds of the 2015 SEC Tournament can be seen on the SEC Network (Gainesville/Ocala Cox cable 68 or 1068). ESPNU will cover Sunday's SEC Championship match at 2 p.m. ET.

2015 Southeastern Conference Soccer Awards
Offensive Player of the Year:	Savannah Jordan, Florida
Defensive Player of the Year:	Christen Westphal, Florida
Freshman of the Year:	CeCe Kizer, Mississippi
Scholar-Athlete of the Year:	Abby Lutzenkirchen, Alabama
	Casie Ramsier, Auburn
Coach of the Year:	Bryan Blitz, Missouri

First Team All-SEC
*Name*	*School*	*Pos.*	*Ht.*	*Year*	*Hometown*
Claire Falknor	Florida	D	5-3	SR	Dayton, Ohio
Savannah Jordan	Florida	F	5-7	JR	Fayetteville, Ga.
Christen Westphal	Florida	D	5-6	SR	Brecksville, Ohio
Casie Ramsier	Auburn	MF	5-6	JR	Dallas, Texas
Kala Faulkner	Auburn	D	5-5	SO	Alpharetta, Ga.
Courtney Raetzman	Kentucky	MF	4-11	SR	Elk Grove, Ill.
Jorian Baucom	LSU	F	5-9	SO	Scottsdale, Ariz.
Addie Forbus	Mississippi	F	5-7	JR	Amory, Miss.
CeCe Kizer	Mississippi	MF	5-7	FR	Overland Park, Kan.
Candace Johnson	Missouri	D	5-10	JR	Dallas, Texas
Savannah McCaskill	South Carolina	F	5-4	SO	Chapin, S.C.
Julie Eckel	Tennessee	GK	5-6	SR-RS	Cordova, Tenn
Mikaela Harvey	Texas A&M	MF	5-3	SO	Liberty Hill, Texas

Second Team All-SEC
Meggie Dougherty Howard	Florida	MF	5-5	SR	Largo, Fla.
Celia Jiminez Delgado	Alabama	MF	5-8	SR	Alcaudete, Spain
Abby Lutzenkirchen	Alabama	D	5-8	SR	Marietta, Ga.
Sarah Le Beau	Auburn	GK	5-10	FR-RS	Crystal Lake, Ill.
Caroline Waters	Georgia	D	5-8	JR	Woodstock, Ga.
Summer Clark	LSU	F	5-7	JR	Richmond, British Columbia, Canada
Jessica Hiskey	Mississippi	D	5-4	SR	Franklin, Tenn.
Melanie Donaldson	Missouri	MF	5-5	JR	Florissant, Mo.
Reagan Russell	Missouri	MF	5-8	JR	Sugar Land, Texas
Raina Johnson	South Carolina	F	5-0	SR	Charlotte, N.C.
Haley Pounds	Texas A&M	F	5-8	SO	Spring, Texas
Karlie Mueller	Texas A&M	D	5-4	SR	Sioux Falls, S.D.
Simone Charley	Vanderbilt	F	5-8	JR	Hoover, Ala.

All-Freshman Team
Mayra Pelayo	Florida	MF	5-4	FR	West Palm Beach, Fla.
Emma Welch	Alabama	F	5-7	FR	McDonough, Ga.
Carly Hoke	Arkansas	D	5-6	FR	Lake Forest, Ill.
Sarah Le Beau	Auburn	GK	5-10	FR-RS	Crystal Lake, Ill.
Taylor Troutman	Auburn	F	5-6	FR	Toms River, N.J.
Sydney Shultis	Georgia	MF	5-6	FR	McDonough, Ga.
Alex Thomas	LSU	F	5-1	FR	New Orleans, La.
CeCe Kizer	Mississippi	MF	5-7	FR	Overland Park, Kan.
Katie Cousins	Tennessee	MF	5-0	FR	Forest, Va.
Emily Bates	Texas A&M	MF	5-4	FR	Melissa, Texas
Ally Watt	Texas A&M	F	5-8	FR	Colorado Springs, Colo.

Gators Calendar

Savannah Jordan & Christen Westphal SEC Soccer Players of the Year

Footer

Upcoming Events

Savannah Jordan & Christen Westphal SEC Soccer Players of the Year

Related Videos

Footer