Stephanie Verdoia Named Senior CLASS Award? Candidate

Seattle University women’s soccer’s Stephanie Verdoia (Salt Lake City, Utah) has been selected as one of 30 women’s soccer student-athletes across the country as a candidate for the 2014 Senior CLASS Award®. To be eligible for this award, student-athletes must be an NCAA Division I senior and excel in four particular areas – community, classroom, character, and competition. The Senior CLASS Award® stands for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School® and is one of the most prestigious awards in collegiate athletics.

“Steph is off to a really great start this season,” said head coach Julie Woodward. “She continues to be a great leader for us both on and off the field. The thing that is most impressive about her is her drive to keep improving every day, every practice, and every offseason. She is playing with an amazing amount of confidence and maturity and it really shows.”

From the list of 30 women’s soccer candidates, a committee comprised of national media will select 10 finalists in October. Those who advance as a finalist will be placed on an official ballot open for nationwide voting. Fan votes will be added to votes from coaches and media to determine the award recipient. The 2014 Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2014 NCAA Men’s and Women’s College Cup® championships in December.

Named the Western Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 2013, Verdoia has picked up where she left off, scoring five goals in four matches to open the 2014 season. She was named Preseason WAC Offensive Player of the Year in a vote of the league’s head coaches, as well as being named to the Top Drawer Soccer Preseason Women’s National Top 100 (#93). She received the WAC’s first Offensive Player of the Week honor of the season (Aug. 18-24) and was named to the OHANA Hotels and Resorts No Ka Oi All-Tournament Team for her performance this past weekend in Hawaii.

Verdoia represents the WAC as the only league member to be named to the top 30 list for women’s soccer.

The complete list of candidates is below. For more information on the candidates and the award, visit www.seniorCLASSaward.com.

2014 Women’s Soccer Senior CLASS Award® Candidates
Cassie Black, Eastern Washington
Caroline Brawner, Colgate
Jessy Brown, UMBC
Nicole Calder, Kennesaw State
Melissa Chapman, Drexel
Sabrina D’Angelo, South Carolina
Abby Dahlkemper, UCLA
Kylie Davis, Memphis
Alex Doll, Stanford
Emily Dzik, Eastern Michigan
Kirsten Eriksen, American
Kelsey Fouch, Missouri State
Anna Grant, Siena
Kylee Hathaway, Alabama State
Kelsey Haycook, La Salle
Sarah Killion, UCLA
Elise Kotsakis, Butler
Lauren Lazo, Princeton
Taylor Leach, South Carolina
Aislinn McIlvenny, Manhattan
Brooke Moody, Montana
Chelsey Patterson, Cal State Fullerton
Riley Ridgik, Wake Forest
Tayrn Rose, Utah State
Kate Schwindel, West Virginia
Sam Scolarici, Hofstra
Ashleigh Shim, Florida International
Meghan Streight, Texas A&M
Taylor Uhl, Stanford
Stephanie Verdoia, Seattle U