Sonnett Named Honda Sports Award Nominee
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Dec. 17, 2015
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –Virginia senior defender Emily Sonnett (Marietta, Ga.) has been named a nominee for the Honda Sport Award for soccer THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards announced on Thursday (Dec. 17). She is one of four nominees for the award, which is presented annually.
It is the third straight year for Virginia to have a nominee for the award after Morgan Brian was named the program’s first nominee in 2013 and earned a repeated selection in 2014.
In addition to Sonnett, the 2015 women’s nominees are West Virginia junior defender Kadeisha Buchanan (Brampton, Ontario), St. John’s forward Rachel Daly (Harrogate, England) and Penn State senior midfielder Raquel Rodriguez (San Jose, Costa Rica).
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 40 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics”. The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2016 Honda Cup which will be presented on a live telecast on June 27, 2016, in the Founders’ Room at the Galen Center on the campus of the University of Southern California in downtown Los, Angeles.
The nominees were chosen by a panel of coaches representing the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). The Honda Sport award winner for soccer will be announced next week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.
Named the ESPNW National Player of the Year and the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, Sonnett helped Virginia post a 19-1-3 record on the season and a 9-1 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference play. The Cavaliers claimed the ACC regular-season title for the second time in the last three seasons with the lone loss coming in double-overtime to then No. 6 Notre Dame.
With Sonnett anchoring the back line, the Cavaliers posted 15 shutouts through 23 matches, including 14 shutout victories and one scoreless draw. Throughout her career on the Cavalier back line, Virginia has posted 54 shutouts in 84 victories as the Cavaliers posted shutout wins 64 percent of the time. In 2015, the Cavaliers allowed only 12 goals through 23 matches and allowed six shots per game.
Sonnett was named a first team NSCAA All-American and a first team All-ACC selection. She earned her first cap with the US Women’s National Team against Brazil as part of the USWNT Victory Tour in Orlando, Fla., on October 25.