For Immediate Release
January 6, 2012
Courtesy of the Saint Rose Athletics Communications Staff
Albany, N.Y. – Sophomore forward Carmelina Puopolo will receive the most prestigious among an of array awards she has garnered this season when the National Soccer Coaches Association of America honors her as the 2011 NCAA Division II Player of the Year later this month.
Puopolo will be recognized at the NSCAA Awards Dinner on Friday, January 17 in conjunction with the organization's national convention that is being held in Kansas City, Missouri.
Puopolo had nothing short of a stellar 2011 campaign. She helped lead The College of Saint Rose to the NCAA National Championship after she scored both goals, 11 minutes part, to propel the Golden Knights to a 2-1 come-from-behind victory against top-ranked and two-time defending national champion Grand Valley State (MI) in the title match on December 3 in Pensacola, FL.
This past autumn, Puopolo improved on a stellar freshman season to become one of the nation's top scoring threats as a sophomore. Puopolo finished tied for first in the country with a school-record 51 points on 19 goals and 13 assists. She furthermore led the nation with 10 game-winning-goals, had at least one point in 20 of the 25 games she appeared in and registered six multi-goal games on the year.
Puopolo garnered numerous other accolades throughout the close of the season as well. She was named both a Daktronics and NSCAA first-team All-American, and was voted the Most Outstanding Offensive Player of the NCAA Tournament.
Puopolo also earned first-team All-League accolades from the Northeast-10 Conference and was recognized as a CoSIDA/Capital One first-team District 1 Academic All-American® for academic and athletic excellence.
The Golden Knights (24-1-1) collectively advanced to their fourth straight NCAA national semifinal appearance and won their fifth straight NE-10 Tournament Championship. Saint Rose also led the nation in scoring with 3.46 goals per-game, wound up 10th behind a 0.493 goals-against-average and set a school record with its 24 victories.
