Video: Magda Mosengo Interview
Video: Catarina Realista Interview
TUSCULUM, Tenn. – The Carson-Newman Women's Soccer program tied a school record on Monday morning as five Eagles were named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Southeast Region teams.
Coach Simon Duffy's squad had four players named to the first-team, the most of any team in the region.
Alex Brandan, Jackie Burns, Magda Mosengo, and Averi Williams were all awarded first-team honors by the coaches in the region with Catarina Realista cracking the second-team. Each first-team member puts their name in the hat for an All-American honor which is to be announced in the coming weeks.
Brandan, Mosengo, and Realista each earned the postseason award for the first time in their careers as four Eagles on the first-team is a new school record.
4️⃣ @CNWSoccer players named to the @UnitedCoaches first-team All-Southeast Region, the most of any team. pic.twitter.com/uVBTkHLl17
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) November 26, 2018
"Just thrilled and delighted for our players," Duffy said. "By no means is it an individual sport but it's great to see certain players get recognized. Alex, Magda, and Cat could have easily been named to the teams last year. They deserve the recognition and I couldn't be happier for all of them."
A native of Knoxville, Tenn., the senior defender Brandan was also named second-team All-Southeast Region by the D2CCA just two weeks ago, in which she was a first-time. Both awards add to her first-team All-South Atlantic Conference selection. The left-back was a huge part of C-N's dominant defense that held opponents to single digits shots in 13 of the team's 20 games including seven straight from Sept. 22 to Oct. 20.
"A lot of defensive positions don't get recognized," Brandan said. "It's great to get the accomplishment and it was the same way for Helen Seed last year. She didn't get much prior to her senior season and I think this year a lot more were recognized this year so it's definitely a good accomplishment.
Brandan has played 80 games as an Eagle accumulating over 6500 minutes played, a top-five mark in the history of the program. In her final season, she recorded one goal and three assists.
Goalkeeper Jackie Burns earns the accolade for the second straight year from the USC following an 11-1 season with 5.1 shutouts. She currently sits second all-time in the SAC in career shutouts with 30.4.
"I was a little bit surprised because I thought I didn't have the best of seasons," Burns said. "It's always good to get that recognition and for coaches to see that you're still fully capable of putting in a good performance."
The junior out of Cookstown, Northern Ireland posted a goals against average of 0.86, which was the best in the league.
The senior forward Mosengo posted one of the better seasons in both the history of the program and maintained a spot inside the nation's top-10 in goals and points throughout the year. The London, England product collected 20 goals and seven assists for a total of 47 points which ties for eighth since the team's inception in 1991. She was also named the conference's Offensive Player of the Year with a first-team All-SAC nod.
"The biggest change for me in 2018 was just to enjoy the game," Mosengo said. "Sometimes you can get wrapped up into the situation. I think that's something I handled better towards the end of last year and put it into effect this year. Hopefully, I've done enough to get the All-America honors but at the end of the day, I know I am. A plaque on the wall doesn't make a difference."
Mosengo is the program's all-time leading scorer in NCAA postseason play with 10 goals and three assists. Failing to record a point in the first two games of the season, she recorded at least one point in every game she played since, a total of 17 games. She ended the year 8th in the nation in points and 8th in goals, six of which were game winners. In her career as an Eagle, Mosengo is tied second in the program with 13 game winners, second in total goals, and third in total points.
Averi Williams makes the leap from her second-team appearance following the 2017 season. The native of Powell, Tenn. was also named D2CCA All-Southeast Region to go along with first-team All-league honors and the SAC's Defensive Player of the Year.
The senior center back was an integral part of C-N's fourth-straight South Atlantic Conference regular-season championship as she started in all 20 games for the Eagles recording two goals and an assist. She turned in over 7100 minutes played in her time at Mossy Creek, including every game over the past two seasons missing just a total of two games over her four-year career. The minutes played total currently sit as the leader in program history dating back to 2002.
Realista commanded Duffy's group at the midfield position for the past two seasons receiving her first postseason award outside of the SAC's all-conference teams. The Lisbon, Portugal transfer recorded two goals in 2018, one of which was the game-winner in the Eagles 3-0 victory over Catawba in the Southeast Region Quarterfinal match. She also added three assists on the season.
.@Crealistaf earns her first-career postseason honor as @CNWSoccer ties a school record with ��️ players named to the All-Region teams pic.twitter.com/jrfnxJy2l8
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CNathletics) November 26, 2018
"I feel like this year having that experience with conference and the NCAA's helped with my growth a lot following my first year," Realista said. "This year I was aware of everything and knew what the next step was so being integrated with the team also helped."
Stay up to date with further postseason awards at cneagles.com and on Twitter @CNAthletics.
-CN-