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North Carolina Duo Nabs Top 2004 Southeast Regional Honors from Soccer Buzz
Jan. 6, 2005 NEW YORK, N.Y. - The best players and coaches of the 2004 women's college soccer season were recognized Thursday as Soccer Buzz announced its annual awards for the Southeast Region. North Carolina's Lori Chalupny and Jaime Gilbert were among the winners. Fifty schools comprising the Southeast Region were eligible for Buzz awards, presented since 1996. Awards were decided by a vote open to all Division 1 Head Coaches and Soccer Buzz staff. Lori Chalupny kept a long string of North Carolina honors alive as the junior midfielder was named Southeast Region Player of the Year. She follows last year's winner, Lindsay Tarpley of UNC, and became the ninth consecutive Tar Heel to win or share the region's top player award. Chalupny's 17 points helped UNC to a 20-1-2 season as the midfielder led North Carolina in shots and was crucial in keeping the Heels competitive when they lost star Tarpley to a broken leg. Forward Jaime Gilbert started the 2004 season with a bang, scoring a hat trick on opening weekend against California and didn't let up all season on her way to 11 goals and 12 assists for North Carolina. Gilbert was named Southeast Region Freshman of the Year and follows teammates Lindsay Tarpley and Heather O'Reilly who won the same honor in 2003 and 2002 respectively. Guiding her squad to a 17-4-2 record, Amanda Cromwell of Central Florida was honored as Southeast Region Coach of the Year. The Golden Knights received an at-large bid to the NCAA Championships after losing the Atlantic Sun title in a shootout and went on to upset Florida in the first round of the national tournament. Cromwell's recognition is the first major regional award presented to UCF by Soccer Buzz. Duke's Robbie Church took a young Blue Devil squad deep into the NCAA Tournament and finished the year 15-8 and earned runner-up coach of year honors. The region's best players were named to one of three All-Regional teams. UAB was the lone school outside of the ACC or SEC to land a player on the first team while Duke's Casey McCluskey was named to the first team for the fourth time. The first team honorees are: First Team All-Southeast Region Soccer Buzz 2004 Second-team All-Southeast Region selections from UNC were freshman forward Jaime Gilbert and junior defender Kendall Fletcher and sophomore defender Jessica Maxwell to the third team. The top rookies also were recognized and named to the Southeast Regional All-Freshman team. Duke, Central Florida and Florida led all schools with two selections each as seven different conferences were represented on the rookie squad. Soccer Buzz national awards will be announced Friday, January 7. Additional awards for media and sports information will be announced at a later date. For 2004 awards as well as all honors presented since 1996, visit "Buzz Honors" at Soccer Buzz.
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