Dec. 6, 2013
LEXINGTON, Ky. – After setting numerous school records, recording two hat tricks, and multiple postseason honors, junior University of Kentucky women’s soccer player Arin Gilliland was named a National Soccer Coaches Association of America third team All-American, it was announced on Friday.
Gilliland collected 34 points, scored a career-high 12 goals, assisted on 10 goals, just one shy of the program record, set a new school record in shots with 100, scored three game-winning goals and was named first team All-Southeastern Conference
Named a team captain in the spring of 2012, the Lexington, Ky., native took the season by storm, serving as one of Kentucky’s three team leaders in the fall of 2013. Gilliland played over 1,800 minutes on the pitch for the Wildcats, rewriting the record books in a number of categories.
In August, she was named to the Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Award (the award given to the best player in collegiate soccer) watch list, after a summer which saw Gilliland called into U.S. Women’s National Team camp two times, as well as spending a month training with the National Women’s Soccer League champion Portland Thorns alongside international stars Alex Morgan and Christine Sinclair.
Gilliland scored 12 goals in 2013, marking the most by a single player since Kim LaBelle in 1995. The 12 goals in a single season tied for the fourth most in a season on the UK record books. Her 10 assists tied former greats Kelsey Hunyadi (2011) and Elizabeth Ramsey (2000) for third-most all-time. She currently sits as one of 11 players in the country this season with 10-plus goals and 10-plus assists.
Gilliland had hat tricks on two different occasions during the SEC season, as she did it twice in a three-game stretch, becoming the second player in UK annals to record a hat trick two times in the same season. Gilliland scored three times in Kentucky’s 4-1 win over Tennessee, while also clinching her second-career hat trick with three goals in the first half against Alabama.
With her 12 goals in 2013, Gilliland became the active leading goal scorer at Kentucky, with 23 in her three-year career in the Blue and White. The 23 goals puts her just five goals out of the top five in program history, with another season to be completed in her career.
Throughout her season, Gilliland racked up numerous on and off-the-field honors, including SEC Offensive Player of the Week on two occasions (9/17, 10/14), CollegeSoccer360.com’s National Primetime Performer of the Week (9/17), first team All-SEC, NSCAA first team All-South Region and now an All-American.
Gilliland had a handful of outstanding performances during the season, including scoring two goals in Kentucky’s best win of the season, a 4-2 win over No. 10 West Virginia on the road in Morgantown, W. Va. She also scored the game-winning goal in the NCAA Tournament against Ohio State, leading the Wildcats past the Buckeyes and into the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year.
In her dynamic career at Kentucky, she has played almost every position on the field, seeing over 5,000 minutes on the field in just three years. She has played in 63 matches, starting in 59 of them, with 200 career shots, 74 shots on goal, eight game-winning goals, 23 goals, 17 assists and 75 points, which currently ranks fifth all-time at Kentucky.
The NSCAA All-America selection comes as the third all-time in Kentucky program history. Gilliland joins Allison Peppers (1999) and Anne Ogundele (2006) as the only recipients in Kentucky history.
For continuing coverage of UK women’s soccer, log on to UKathletics.com.
