Dec. 15, 2008
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kentucky junior defender Barry Rice, who became the first player in league history to win Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year in back-to-back years in 2008, has been selected a second-team All-American by College Soccer News, it was announced.
Rice, a native of Parma, Ohio, has earned second-team All-America honors in 2008 by College Soccer News and third-team accolades from Top Drawer Soccer. One of UK’s trio of junior captains (Jason Griffiths, Dan Williams), Rice had a star season while pacing a stingy Wildcat defense to a 0.80 goals-against average, the fifth-best total in program history. An athletically-gifted, physical defender, Rice totaled two goals – both game winners – and one assist on the year, a year after leading an injury-depleted UK squad with seven goals and one assist.
Most impressively, Rice continued to stake a claim as the best aerial college player in the nation, winning 189-for-218 contested header attempts, an 87-percent clip on the year. His best aerial game came in a two-overtime, regular-season finale tie with Memphis, when Rice kept UK’s school-record unbeaten streak alive by winning 32-of-36 contested header attempts. A first-team National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-Region selection in 2008, Rice has played in 60 career games, totaling 10 goals and seven assists – including six game-winning goals, the sixth-most in the 18-year history of the program.
Kentucky finished the season ranked No. 21 after a penalty-kick loss to the seventh-ranked Tulsa Golden Hurricane in the C-USA Championship game in Dallas. UK had a historic season, running up a school-record 10-game unbeaten streak to end the season, eclipsing the previous mark of seven games, set in 1997,1998 and 2004.
Rice becomes the third All-American in program history and his second-team selection equals him with Ilkka Jantti (2001) and Jamal Shteiwi (2004), who each earned second-team accolades. Jantti earned second team honors by the NSCAA and collegesoccernews.com, while Shteiwi was selected third-team by the NSCAA and second-team by collegesoccernews.com.
Kentucky Finishes Season Ranked Among NCAA Stat Leaders
After the record-breaking 2008 season that saw Kentucky run up a 10-game unbeaten streak, UK has finished the college season ranked No. 13 in scoring offense (1.95 gpg), 31st in goals-against average (0.80), 23rd in win-loss percentage (0.69).
Goalkeeper Dan Williams finished the season ranked 36th in goals-against average (0.81), while senior forward Michael Strong ranked 88th in points per game (1.06) and 55th in goals per game (0.50)
College Soccer News 2008 All-America Teams
First Team
GK, Jovan Bubonja, Illinois-Chicago
D, Joel Gustafsson, St. John’s
D, Yohance Marshall, South Florida
D, Ike Opara, Wake Forest
M, Nelson Becerra, St. John’s
M, Sam Cronin, Wake Forest
M, Andrei Gotsmanov, Creighton
M, Jeremy Hall, Maryland
F, Mike Grella, Duke
F, Marcus Tracy, Wake Forest
F, Steve Zakuani, Akron
Second Team
GK, Zack Simmons, UMass
D, Omar Gonzalez, Maryland
D, Barry Rice, Kentucky
D, Chris Schuler, Creighton
M, Alejandro Bedoya, Boston College
M, Corben Bone, Wake Forest
M, Baggio Husidic, Illinois-Chicago
F, Quincy Amarikwa, UC Davis
F, Cody Arnoux, Wake Forest
F, Doug DeMartin, Michigan State
F, Chris Pontius, UC Santa Barbara
Third Team
GK, Stefan Frei, California
D, Angelo Amato, Monmouth
D, Michael Holody, Michigan
D, Tennant McVea, Loyola (Md.)
M, Matt Murphy, UC Irvine
M, Brad Ring, Indiana
M, Michael Stephens, UCLA
F, Graciano Brito, Quinnipiac
F, Daniel Revivo, Winthrop
F, Chris Salvaggione, Charlotte
F, Andrew Wiedeman, California
Barry Rice
