BIG EAST Boasts Five Candidates For Soccer Senior CLASS Award
Representatives from Butler, Creighton, DePaul and Providence among 60 soccer student-athletes named on Wednesday.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Sixty NCAA men’s and women’s soccer student-athletes who excel both on and off the field were selected as candidates today for the 2018 Senior CLASS Award® in collegiate soccer. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. Of those sixty, five come from BIG EAST programs, including two from Providence. On the women’s side, Butler’s Paige Monaghan, DePaul’s Franny Cerny and PC’s Katie Day were listed. The BIG EAST men were represented by Creighton’s Mitch LaGro and the Friars’ Colin Miller.
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.
Monaghan, a 2017 All-American and a 2018 MAC Hermann Watch List candidate, will graduate from the Lacy School of Business with a marketing degree in December. Monaghan, the 2017 BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year, led the league in shots (33), points (18), goals (8) and game-winning goals (3) over nine BIG EAST games. The Second Team All-American had three multi-goal games in 2017 and earned First Team All-Midwest Region honors. She was a unanimous selection for the 2018 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team.
Cerny led the Blue Demons last season with 10 goals and 22 points and was tops in shots with 55 and second in shots on goal with 28. The senior from Berkeley, Calif. was voted by coaches onto the 2017 All-BIG EAST First Team and was also named United Soccer Coaches All-Midwest Second Team. The dangerous forward scored four game-winning goals last fall and recorded a hat trick in a 4-0 victory over William & Mary.
Day started all 20 games for the Friars last season and helped lead the defense to seven shutouts. Day finished tied for third on the team in points (six), on two goals and two assists. Following the season, Day was named to the All-BIG EAST First Team and to the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team. In August she was voted to the Preseason All-BIG EAST Team.
LaGro graduated in May with a degree in finance, completing his undergraduate studies with a 3.47 cumulative GPA. He also earned the 2017-18 BIG EAST Institutional Male Scholar Athlete of the Year award. LaGro is currently pursuing his Master's of Business Administration. The Dallas, Texas native, suffered a season-ending injury during October of 2017 but persevered and is a co-captain for the 2018 squad. He is one of two Bluejays to play each minute through the first six matches of the 2018 season. Last season he started the first 14 matches before suffering a season-ending injury.
Miller, a redshirt senior goalkeeper for the Friars, has played in 42 games during his career. He holds a 1.02 goals against average and a .781 save percentage. He has 15 shutouts and a 22-12-6 record. This season, he was selected as the BIG EAST Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year and to the SMU All-Tournament Team. Last year (2017-18), Miller was awarded one of the athletic department's highest honors, the Rev. Robert A. Morris, O.P. '46 Memorial Award. This is given to a student-athlete who has had a profound impact on Providence College during their career. He is also a three-year member of Providence College's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). In the 2017-18 year he served as President.
Each of the two candidate classes will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition. ?
The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2018 NCAA Men’s and Women’s College Cup championships in December. For the full list and release, click
HERE.