Frierson Named Preseason All-American; Season Starts Friday - AuburnTigers.com

Frierson Named Preseason All-American; Season Starts Friday Season Starts Friday

Katy Frierson and the Tigers kick off the season at 7pm on Friday

Aug. 19, 2010

AUBURN, Ala. - With the start of the Auburn soccer season less than 24 hours away, junior midfielder Katy Frierson continues to pile on the preseason awards as Soccer America has tabbed her as one of its Preseason All-Americans.

Already named to the Preseason All-SEC team by the league coaches and the Hermann Trophy Watch List by the Missouri Athletic Club and the NSCAA, Frierson becomes Auburn's first-ever Soccer America Preseason All-American.

A native of Homewood, she has been one of the most exciting players in Auburn soccer history, leading the teams in points as a sophomore with 20 (five goals, 10 assists) and being named a First Team All-SEC selection. That came on the heels of an impressive freshman season in which she was named the SEC Freshman of the Year, a First Team All-SEC midfielder, a SoccerBuzz Freshman All-American and was placed on the Soccer America All-Freshman Team.

Frierson and her teammates open up the 2010 season on Friday at 7pm when they play host to Tennessee Tech at the Auburn Soccer Complex. Coming off of a fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and a berth in the SEC Tournament semifinals, Auburn was recently picked to win the SEC West by a vote of the league's head coaches.

"You can't talk about our offense without mentioning Katy Frierson," Auburn Head Coach Karen Hoppa said. "She was just named a captain along with Sammy Towne. We expect (Katy) to lead the offensive charge from the midfield for us."

Along with Frierson and the senior defender in Towne, Auburn returns its starting goalkeeper from last season in sophomore Amy Howard (1.19 GAA, 121 saves), defenders juniors Heather Havron and Julie King and sophomore Christine Schweer, midfielder Monica Afanador and forwards sophomore Mary Coffed and senior Gabi Rivera.

Having lost over 50 percent of its scoring off of last year's team, Auburn will rely heavily on a big crop of newcomers, which includes Auburn's first-ever recruits out of the state of California (four of them).

"We are going to have a lot of young kids filling in around the veterans that have a lot of talent," Hoppa said.

Hoppa is beginning her 12th season at Auburn and her 20th as a Division I head coach. In 11 years at Auburn, she has guided the team to a 125-85-19 (.587) mark, gone to eight NCAA Tournaments, won the SEC West six times and won the entire league once.