Five Tars Earn All-SSC Honors

MELBOURNE, Fla. (November 14, 2024) - The Sunshine State Conference recognizes thirty-three women's soccer student-athletes as All-Conference for the 2024 season. Voting for the awards is conducted among the league's women's soccer coaches, and happened before the start of the SSC tournament.

Full SSC Release

Among the honorees are five Rollins student-athletes. The Tars placed forward Briyah Drayton, defender Harmoni Thomas, and defender Amanda Caines on the first team; midfielder Kayla Park on the second team; and forward Lexie Cooper on the third team. 

Drayton, a senior, was the catalyst for the Tar offense. She tied for the team lead in goals with five, and also added six assists, which was also tops on the team. She appeared in 14 regular season games, starting 13, and totaled 976 minutes on the pitch. This is her second All-SSC award after being named third-team last season. 

Thomas takes home her first career SSC honor with tremendous play on the back line. Thomas saw action in twelve games with ten starts totaling 935 minutes. Her leadership helped the Tars limit opponents to a meager one goal per game average. She also added her first career goal on October 19 in a win against Lynn. 

Caines is a true freshman, but her play made her seem like a seasoned veteran. The Coral Springs, Florida resident appeared in all fourteen regular season games, including thirteen starts, totaling 1114 minutes, the third-most on the team. 

The focal point of every team that Rollins played was to stop Kayla Park and her playmaking ability. Still, the senior always seemed to find a way to help her teammates and create plenty of scoring chances. She was one of four players to start every game in the regular season, seeing 1173 minutes of action. she totaled three goals, four assists, and had the game-winning goal against #1 seed Florida Tech. This is the second All-SSC nod for Park after being named first team last season. 

Cooper was a bright spot for the Tar offense, tying for the team lead in goals with five. Three of those goals came in the match against Tampa, giving Cooper her first career hat trick, and a SSC Player of the Week award. Lexie appeared in all fifteen games for the Tars this season, and was second on the team in shots on goal with nineteen. 

Marta Llopis, a junior midfielder from Florida Tech, is honored as Offensive Player of the Year by league coaches. The Barcelona, Spain native led the league in points (27), points per game (1.67), goals (11), and game-winning goals (7). 

Florida Tech's Daniela Tobon receives the Defensive Player of the Year nod. The Weston, Florida midfielder played over 1400 minutes for a Panthers defense that registered seven shutouts and held opponents to SSC-leading numbers in goals allowed (12) and goals allowed per game (0.75). 

Kaitlin Sinkler brings Florida Tech Goalkeeper of the Year laurels for a second consecutive season. The Decatur, Georgia senior led the SSC in goals against average at .645. 

Coaches recognize Alexa Bereczki from Nova Southeastern as Freshman of the Year. The forward from Fort Myers, Florida, has five goals, including three in conference play, in 14 games played and 997 minutes on the pitch. 

Katy Freels is the Coach of the Year after leading Florida Tech to the program's first outright SSC regular-season title, second consecutive, and third overall.