Moeko Morse Named SSC Freshman of the Year, Four Spartans Earn All-SSC Honors

MELBOURNE, Fla. - The University of Tampa women's soccer team had four players selected to All-SSC and Moeko Morse was named the Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the Year. Twenty-five women's soccer student-athletes have earned All-Sunshine State Conference honors for the 2018 season. Conference champions, Barry University, collect 11 All-SSC awards including Player of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Coach of the Year. Voting for the awards was conducted among the league's women's soccer coaches. 

Morse was named the SSC Freshman of the Year in 2018. The forward from Chesapeake, Virginia started 14 games but appeared in all 17 for the Spartans this year. Morse was second on the team in goals scored and points with six and 13, respectively. She is the fifth Tampa Spartan to be named Freshman of the Year, first since 2012⁵. She was tabbed SSC Player of the Week for the week of August 27-September 2 as she logged a hat trick in an upset victory over No. 18 Mississippi College. 

Nastasia Asgedom was selected to the All-SSC first team for the second time in her career. The senior from Tampa, Florida started in every match this season and led the team with six assists. Tampa's leader registered two game-winning goals to bring her career total to seven match-clinching goals, which ranks eighth in UT history. In her final regular season match, she tallied three assists for the first time in her four-year career. 

Emily Cady claimed All-SSC honors for the first time in her career as she led the offense with eight goals on 34 shots, sporting a .647 shot on target percentage. Cady started in 15 games but appeared in all 17 matches. The junior from East Lake, Florida logged two game-winning goals throughout the year, including a hat trick in the season finale against Saint Leo. 

Defender's Taylor Koester and Reni Taiwo received All-SSC second team honors as they were the backbone of the UT defense. Koester, a transfer from Campbell University, started in every match this season and had the ability to press upfield then track back on defense. Taiwo appeared in all 17 games, starting in 16, and held down the middle of the defense for UT. They were the centerpiece of a defense that only allowed 20 goals on the year, which ranked third best in the SSC. They also helped their goal-keeper, Megan Bromwell, post the third-best "goals against average" in the conference. 

Christy Grimshaw of Barry repeats as Player of the Year. The Aberdeen, Scotland native scored 13 goals and tallied nine assists across 15 regular season games for a total of 35 points. Grimshaw is the third SSC women's soccer athlete to repeat as Player of the Year, second from Barry¹. She remains the fifth Buccaneer to win the award². 

SSC Women's Soccer History: ALL-SSC Teams| Players & Coaches of the Year| Conference Champions| National Champions

Molly Sharpe becomes the second consecutive, third overall Buccaneer, to be named Offensive Player of the Year³. The Bradford, England product netted 12 goals and had 10 assists for a total of 34 points this season. Sharpe knocked in six game-winning goals for the Buccaneers this season.

Fellow Buccaneer Jade Adams is awarded Defensive Player of the Year honors. The defender from Palmetto, Florida led a Barry defense that tallied 10 shutouts and allowed just five goals this season. Adams is the third Barry athlete to capture Defensive Player of the Year accolades, first since 2014⁴.  

Sarah Dacey is awarded Coach of the Year after leading the Buccaneers to their 10th SSC Regular Season Championship and an undefeated season. Under Dacey, the 2018 Barry Buccaneers become the first SSC team in history to have three separate athletes win Player, Defensive Player, and Offensive Player of the Year in the same season. The honor is a first for Dacey, seventh for Barry⁶.

Grimshaw and Kelly Rowswell of Rollins College highlight the repeat All-SSC honorees. Both Grimshaw and Rowswell are celebrating the third First Team All-SSC honor. Tampa's Nastasia Asgedom and Florida Tech's Maria Munoz both receive All-SSC honors for the fourth time. Asgedom has now been named First Team twice and Second Team twice, while Munoz jumps to the First Team after three consecutive seasons on the Second Team. In all, nine of the 2018 First Team honorees repeat as All-Conference selections.

Player of the Year: Christy Grimshaw, Barry

Offensive Player of the Year: Molly Sharpe, Barry

Defensive Player of the Year: Jade Adams, Barry

Freshman of the Year: Moeko Morse, Tampa

Coach of the Year: Sarah Dacey, Barry

^ = 2017 First Team All-SSC

* = 2017 Second Team All-SSC

† = 2017 Player of the Year

‡ = 2017 Freshman of the Year

~ = 2016 First Team All-SSC

# = 2016 Second Team All-SSC

$ = 2015 First Team All-SSC

@ = 2015 Second Team All-SSC

& = 2015 Freshman of the Year

Δ = 2014 Freshman of the Year

(AL) = At Large Selection

1Lindsay Giblin, Rollins (2006-07); Emelie Karlson, Barry (2002-03)

2Lavinia Nkomo (2014), Emelie Karlson (2002-03, 2005), Tiina Saario (2004), Jenny Nilsson (1999)

3Amanda Traynor (2017); Emelie Karlson, Barry (2002-05)

4Katie Turner (2014), Becca Rogers (2013)

5CiCi Gonzalez (2012), Jocelyn Charette (2006), Shelby Kuni (2005), Stephanie Keating (1999)

6Denise Brolly (2013-15), Kyleene Carter-Weiss (2002, 2004), Mike Neveu (1999-00)