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Five Women's Soccer Players Earn All-MAC Accolades
11/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
BUFFALO, NY - Five University at Buffalo, The State University of New York women's soccer players were honored with All-MAC accolades on Thursday afternoon, as announced by the conference office. Jackie Hall and Kassidy Kidd were named first team All-MAC performers while Celina Carrero and Julia Benati earned second team All-MAC and Brianna Shingary earned MAC All-Freshman team accolades.
"It's a great representation of our program to have five players named to All-MAC teams," said second-year head coach Shawn Burke. "To have two repeat members in Jackie and Celina, it really says a lot about the standard the girls have set here. It's great to see Kassidy and Julia step up this season and lead this team offensively and be recognized for their tremendous play. And I can't say enough about the impact Brianna has had in her first year and how valuable she is to this team."
The five All-MAC selections was the second most in program history behind only the 2014 squad who was honored with seven selections along with sweeping the major awards. The historic 2014 UB squad remains the lone team in MAC history to sweep the four major awards.
Hall continued her domination of opposing forwards this season as she was named to the first team All-MAC for the second consecutive season, becoming the first Bull since Paula Listrani and Linnaea DiNallo in 1999 and 2000 to earn first team accoaldes in back-to-back seasons. Last year's Defensive Player of the Year had another great season at center back for UB this season as she was the vocal leader on the field and helped UB preserve eight cleansheets on the season. The team captain also has chipped in on the offensive end of the field on set pieces, netting one goal and one assist this season.
Kidd, who earned first team All-MAC accolades for the first time in her career, turned in her best season as a Bull this year as she made the move to forward midway through the season. The senior finished off the regular season with a team-high six goals and six assists for 18 points while notching 14 points in her eight games since making the change to forward. The Niagara Falls, Ontario native finished her regular season with five multi-point matches including back-to-back matches with a career-high two goals and four points. Kidd also earned MAC Offensive Player of the Week accoaldes twice during the season, marking the first time in her UB career she was honored with the weekly MAC award.
Earning second team All-MAC honors for the first time in her career, Benati proved to be one of the Bulls most consistent performers all season long. The Dorchester, Ontario native turned in a stellar sophomore campaign that saw her notch a career-high six goals and three assists for 15 points. The crafty midfielder has a knack for scoring big goals for the Bulls as she was tied for the MAC lead in game-winning goals with five on the year. Benati had a career-high six multi-point games this season while also tying for the team lead with Kidd with 22 shots on goal.
Carrero was named second team All-MAC for the second straight season as she proved to be one of the best playmakers in the conference once again for UB. The Newburgh, NY native finished off her impressive regular season with three goals and a team-high six assists for 12 points. The nifty playmaker moved into 11th place on UB's all-time assists list with 13 career assists while notching three multi-point games on the year. Carrero recorded at least one point in five straight matches during the middle of the season, a stretch that saw UB go 3-1-1.
Closing out the Bulls All-MAC recognition is one of the most underrated players in the conference, Brianna Shingary. Shingary was named to the MAC All-Freshman team after a terrific first year for the Bulls as she has started all 20 matches on defense for UB. The gritty defender has not only made an impact on an UB defense that has notched eight shutouts but also on the offensive end as a key component to the Bulls set pieces. The Medina, Ohio native has produced two goals and four assists for eight points as the team's corner kick specialist. The freshman scored her biggest goal as a Bull, her first career game-winning goal, in the 1-0 double overtime defeat at Miami (OH) , scoring in the 107th minute of play.
The Bulls had the third most representatives on the All-MAC squads with Ball State placing seven and Western Michigan placing six on the squads.
Buffalo will return to the pitch on Friday, November 6 at 2:00 pm as they aim for their second straight MAC Tournament Championship. The Bulls will take on the host Western Michigan Broncos at 2:00 pm at the WMU Soccer Complex in the MAC semifinals. The winner will compete for the MAC Championship on Sunday at 1:00 pm.
