Powers Named All-American

ABILENE, Texas — Hardin-Simmons junior midfielder Carlyn Powers was named a third-team all-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and four Cowgirls were named to the NSCAA all-West region team in awards announced on Tuesday.

Powers, who scored 11 goals and had five assists, was a force for the Cowgirls in the middle of the field. She had a high win percentage on 50-50 balls and she was able to control the ball in the middle to initiate the Cowgirl offense. She also is a great defender.

“Carlyn had an unbelievable year for us,” said HSU head coach Marcus Wood. “She wins so many balls in the middle of the field and she was a huge physical presence for us. She scored several goals off of corner kicks and she was a great leader.”

Powers was joined by senior goalkeeper Christi Carr on the all-West region first team. It was the fourth time Carr has claimed all-region honors. Carr finished her career with a record of and she was in the top five in the nation in goals against average three times in her career. She finished with a 0.47 GAA average for her career. She allowed only one goal in conference play in the last two seasons and she never lost an ASC game in her career.

Carr was also named to the NSCAA second-team scholar all-America team with a 3.68 GPA.

Freshman Taylor Thigpen was named second-team all-West region as a forward. She led the ASC in scoring with 16 goals and seven assists.

Freshman Katie Kuykendall led the nation in assists with 21 and was named to the third team as a midfielder.

The Cowgirls went 20-2 on the year and finished the season ranked No. 13 in the NSCAA final poll. HSU advanced to the NCAA Round of 16.

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