JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Just like current Graduate Assistant Julianne Herrity, a former Eagle will return to Mossy Creek and make her way to the sidelines. Coach Simon Duffy announced the addition of Helen Seed as a Volunteer Assistant Coach for the women's soccer program for the 2018 season.
"So happy that Helen will be returning in the fall for us," Duffy mentioned. "I think she will be so beneficial to the team with her experience and knowledge not only for the returning players but especially for these new players coming in."
The Preston, England native comes off a historic four-year career at Carson-Newman as a defender for the Eagles who played an integral part to the team getting to the 2018 NCAA National Championship match in which she was named to the All-Tournament squad. Seed also experienced three-straight SAC regular season and championship ship titles, having never missed an All-Conference squad at the end of the year. She claimed a spot on the SAC All-Tournament team each of those three seasons.
Seed finished her career with the fourth-most minutes played in the history of the women's soccer program at Carson-Newman tallying 6821 minutes. She started in 77 games over her four-career which is also good for third-best all-time, wrapping up arguably the best careers as a defender in C-N's illustrious history.
"I'm really happy that I'll be able to stay involved with the program after I've graduated and I want to thank Coach Duffy for giving me this opportunity," Seed stated. "I can't wait to learn and get some experience on the coaching side of college soccer. Having the opportunity to work with Coach Duffy and the rest of the staff is going to be great."
Her 23 games started in 2017 tie a program record for a single season, recording a team-leading 2079 minutes. During her senior campaign, Seed came away with a career-high four goals and added one helper. She provided the Eagles with one of the best defenses in the nation shutting out opponents 14 times while holding 12 different teams to six shots or less through 90 minutes, along with six straight shutouts from Oct. 7 to Oct. 31, a program record.
"It will be interesting to learn all the hard work that goes into preparing a team for such an intense season and tackling the challenges through," Seed added. "I'm hoping that my four years playing here are going to help with those newcomers as I can relate to how they're feeling starting their college careers. I've experience some very highs and lows through this soccer program so hopefully, I can offer some guidance and support throughout the season."
Her play was not only recognized on the conference level, it included the most prized stage with national honors grabbing a total of eight different accolades following the year, the second-most in a single season in school history.
- 2017 D2CCA Second-Team All-America
- 2017 USC Third-Team All-America
- 2017 D2CCA First-team All-Region
- 2017 USC First-team All-Region
- 2017 CoSIDA Scholar First-team All-America
- 2017 SAC All-Tournament Team
- 2017 NCAA All-Tournament Team
- 2017 SAC First-Team