Nov. 4, 2009
PHILADELPHIA - La Salle Women's Soccer had four of its players earn a total of six honors from the Atlantic 10 Conference headlined by Traci DePasquale's selection to the First Team, as voted on by the league's women's soccer head coaches and announced Wednesday.
Also earning a spot on the postseason team was Ally Kenney, who was a Second Team pick and also joined DePasquale on the 2009 A-10 Academic All-Conference Team. Melanie Gamble also earned a Second Team selection, while Jess Hopton was an Honorable Mention All-Conference defender.
DePasquale's numbers in 2009 alone include finishing as the conference's leader in assists with 12, tied for second in points with 30, and she was third in goals with nine. She accounted for 30 of the Explorers 99 points during the season. She becomes just the seventh First Team selection for the Explorers in their 15 seasons in the league.
The A-10's leader in points, Charlotte's Whitney Weinraub with 32 points (13 goals, six assists) was the conference's Offensive Player of the Year, while 49ers Hailey Beam, who tied DePasquale with 30 points (10 goals, 10 assists) was the Midfielder of the Year.
Kenney had a career year in her final season in the Blue and Gold, tallying five goals and nine assists for 19 points. The nine assists were third in the conference, which helped the 2006 All-Rookie make a return trip to a postseason team.
A third senior, one of eight Explorers who played their final season in 2009, Gamble also had an outstanding final season, tallying seven goals and three assists for 17 points. For her career, Gamble had 18 career goals - the eighth most in a career at the school.
Hopton followed up her 2008 All-Rookie selection with an Honorable Mention choice this year. She was one of five La Salle players to start and play every game this season (20-of-20), and played all but four minutes during the season (1,852) and played ever minute in A-10 action on the defense.
DePasquale and Kenney become the first La Salle teammates to earn a spot on the same Academic All-Conference Team and gives La Salle six total honors from the fall. That is the second highest total in team history, as the 2004 squad had seven honors after that season.
To view the Atlantic 10 Conference release and see the entire postseason teams, click here.
