Caroline Miller Named ACC Offensive Player of the Year
Story Links
Nov. 1, 2012
Complete ACC Awards and All-ACC teams
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Virginia women’s soccer senior forward Caroline Miller (Rockville, Md.) was named the ACC Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Year on Thursday as the conference announced its awards for the 2012 season. Miller was joined on the All-ACC First Team by sophomore midfielder Morgan Brian (St. Simons Island, Ga.), while forward Makenzy Doniak (Chino Hills, Calif.) and defender Emily Sonnett (Marietta, Ga.) were named to the ACC All-Freshman Team.
A two-time ACC Player of the Week, Miller leads the Cavaliers with 14 goals this season. She led the conference with 10 goals during league play, becoming the first player in four years to score double-digit goals during the ACC regular season. She has four multi-goal games this year, all coming against ACC opposition, highlighted by a hat trick at Virginia Tech on Oct. 21. She ranks third in career goals at Virginia with 39, and her 94 career points rank fourth in school history.
Miller becomes Virginia’s seventh ACC Player of the Year. Lori Lindsey was named ACC Player of the Year in 2000 and 2001. Beginning in 2004, the award was split into offensive and defensive player of the year awards. Sarah Huffman (2004), Becky Sauerbrunn (2007) and Nikki Krzysik (2008) were named ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and Sinead Farrelly became the Cavaliers’ first ACC Offensive Player of the Year in 2010.
Brian was recognized on the All-ACC First Team for the second straight year, as she and Miller became the 12th and 13th Virginia players to be multiple-time All-ACC First Team selections. After missing the first nine games of the season while leading the United States to the FIFA U-20 World Cup Championship in Japan, Brian returned to anchor the Cavalier midfield, recording four assists.
Doniak ranks second on the team with eight goals and 23 points, while leading the team with seven assists. In August, she became the first Cavalier to score a goal in the first five games of her career.
Sonnett began the season as a reserve midfielder before moving into a starting role as a central defender midway through the season. Her first career goal was the game-winner against Boston College in the regular season finale on Oct. 28.
The Cavaliers (14-4-1) continue play in the ACC Tournament on Friday with a semifinal matchup with Florida State (16-2). Game time at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. is 5 p.m. and the game will be broadcast online by ESPN3.