Photo courtesy of Ole Miss Athletics
OXFORD, Miss. – A trio of Rebels were honored with All-Southeastern Conference honors by the league’s coaches Monday as Gretchen Harknett, Mandy McCalla and Rafaelle Souza were all tabbed for recognition, the conference office announced.
McCalla and Souza were named as All-SEC First Team selections by the league’s coaches, while Harknett was named to the All-Freshman team. Souza was also named the SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year after posting a 3.75 GPA while majoring in Engineering and can graduate after only three years at Ole Miss.
It marks the second year in a row for McCalla and Souza to garner All-SEC honors from the league coaches after the duo led the SEC in goals and points last season to help the Rebels to a quarterfinal appearance in the SEC Tournament and a 13-win season.
This year, the duo stepped up the production to help the Rebels to a fourth-place finish in the league standings and tied the school record for wins in the regular season with a 14-4-2 record on the year.
Souza finished the regular season with 18 goals and 42 points, and was second in the league in goals behind SEC Player of the Year Savannah Jordan of Florida. The 42 points is best in the league as Souza also added six assists on the season, the eighth most in the league.
The senior from Salvador, Brazil, hit six game-winners this season, including the game-winning goals against Northwestern State, at Arkansas, UALR, at No. 25 LSU, against Alabama and Mississippi State. She also notched multiple-goals in seven games.
Souza now has 40 goals for her career, putting her second on the all-time list for goals in a career at Ole Miss.
McCalla finished right behind Souza with 13 goals on the season to match her total from a year ago. The senior from Fayetteville, Ga., has hit five game-winning goals for the Rebels this season, including the game-winner at Saint Louis, at Kennesaw State, against Memphis, at No. 20 Georgia and against Vanderbilt.
With her 13 goals this season, McCalla now has 35 for her career and is fourth on the all-time goal list at Ole Miss heading into the postseason.
Harknett becomes the first member of the SEC All-Freshman team since McCalla was named to the team as a freshman in 2010. The defender played the entire duration of a match on nine different occasions this season and helped the Rebels post eight shutout victories.
Ole Miss will return to action Wednesday as the Rebels open post-season play at the SEC Tournament against the Kentucky Wildcats. Opening kick in the match is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Orange Beach SportsPlex in Orange Beach, Ala.
— Bill Bunting, Ole Miss Sports Information
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