Arin Gilliland Named Finalist for 2016 NWSL Defender of the Year

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky women’s soccer
alumna Arin Gilliland of the Chicago Red Stars has been named as a finalist for
the 2016 National Women’s Soccer Defender of the Year, it was announced by the
league on Tuesday afternoon.

In the final round of voting – owners, general
managers, head coaches, players, media and fans will vote from now to Sept. 29
at 11:59 p.m. ET to determine the individual award winners as well as the 2016
NWSL Best XI. Fans
can vote now by accessing this link.

In just her second season with the Red Stars,
Gilliland has turned many heads with her play – having played and started in
every match this season and playing every single minute of the first 17 matches
of the season. She helped lead the Red Stars back four to an NWSL record
shutout streak that lasted over 480 minutes – which was over a month long in
duration.

She has started in all 20 matches played thus
far in the 2016 season and tallied two assists in her over 1,700 minutes on the
pitch, often times matching up on the opponent’s best forward 1v1.

The Red Stars are the No. 3 seed in the 2016
NWSL playoffs, which kick off on Friday night. CRS will face the Washington
Spirit at 8 p.m. ET from the nation’s capital. The match will be shown live on
Fox Sports 1 and the Fox Sports Go app.

The winner of the semifinal match on Friday
night will move into the NWSL Championship match in Houston’s BBVA Compass Stadium
on Sunday, Oct. 9 at 5 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.

For the latest on the Kentucky women’s soccer team, follow @UKWomensSoccer on Twitter,
Instagram and Facebook, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.