The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Two Women's Soccer Players Earn All-Conference Honors
11/3/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 3, 2009
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Sophmore forward Tiffini Turpin and junior defender Marie Yempuku each earned Second Team All-Conference USA honors, the league announded on Tuesday. With the recognition, Turpin earns a spot on the all-conference team for a second straight year, while Yempuku earned league accolades for the first time in her career.
Turpin, who was the league's co-freshman of the year and a first team all-conference honoree last season, leads UAB offensively heading into this week's C-USA Tournament. The Birmingham, Ala. native leads the team in goal (5), points (12) and game-winning goals (4). She becomes the first UAB player since Sally Palmer (2004-07) to captured back-to-back all-conference accolades.
Yempuku headlines the UAB defense and is a big reason why the Blazers rank among the league leaders in goals against average (1.15 GAA). The two-year team captain was named the C-USA Co-Defensive Player of the Week and was selected to the Soccer America's National Team of the Week back on Sept. 7 for her performance at the Hawaii Soccer Classic.
Regular season league champions UCF was well represented on the first team, boasting a league-leading four members on the C-USA First Team. Additionally, UCF's Becca Thomas was selected the Midfielder of the Year, while head coach Amanda Cromwell earned the league's Coach of the Year award.
Memphis was also well represented with three players on the first team. Additionally, the Tigers' Ashley Berra was selected the league's Offensive Player of the Year, while Kelsey Bakker was named the Defensive Player of the Year. UTEP's Skye Schultz earned Freshman of the Year honors.
All of these awards winners will be competing in the 15th Annual C-USA Women's Soccer Championship, which is scheduled to begin Wednesday, Nov. 4, at SMU's Westcott Field in Dallas, Texas. Top-seeds UCF and Colorado College earn first-round byes and will face the winners of Wednesday's matches between UTEP and UAB in a 5:00 p.m. contest, and Memphis at SMU in the 7:30 p.m. nightcap. A champion will be crowned Sunday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m. CST. That match will also be televised live by CBS College Sports.
