Dec. 6, 2008
KANSAS CITY, KAN. -
Junior forward Casey Nogueira of the fourth-ranked University of North Carolina women's soccer team was named Saturday to the first-team All-America squad named by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
The NSCAA names an 11-person first-team All-America Team by position (one goalkeeper, three defenders, three midfielders and three forwards) as well as a 14-person second-team All-America team and a 15-member third-team All-America squad.
Two Tar Heel midfielders - senior Yael Averbuch of Upper Montclair, N.J. and junior Tobin Heath of Basking Ridge, N.J. - were named to the second team. Junior Whitney Engen of Rolling Hills Estates, Calif. was named to the third-team as a defender. Engen played her first two years at Carolina as the starting center forward.
Nogueira and Engen were named to the NSCAA team for the first time while Averbuch earned his third selection and Heath her second.
Averbuch was a first-team NSCAA All-America in both 2006 and 2007 while Heath was a first-team honoree in 2008.
Nogueira is the Tar Heels' leading scorer this year with 23 goals and eight assists for 54 points while Heath is the team's third-leading scorer with eight goals and eight assists. Averbuch is UNC's fourth-leading scorer with 21 points on six goals and nine assists.
Engen leads the team in minutes played with 2,428. She has combined with her starting defensive linemates and UNC's co-starting goalkeepers to limit opponents to 0.54 goals per game and 17 shutouts in 26 games. The UNC defense has allowed only one goal since October 30 as the Tar Heels have posted eight of those 17 shutouts in the past nine games.
