KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Senior Bianca St. Georges of the No. 14-ranked West Virginia women’s soccer team was named the 2018 Big 12 Conference Defensive Player of the Year.
Additionally, a conference-best eight Mountaineers earned nine all-Big 12 accolades. The honor total ranks second in program history.
All awards were selected by the conference coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own student-athletes.
A native of St. Felix de Valois, Quebec, St. Georges is the fourth different Mountaineer to earn the conference’s top defensive honor since WVU joined the Big 12 in 2012. Current graduate assistant Bry McCarthy won the first honor in 2012, Kadeisha Buchanan became the first player to win four consecutive honors (2013-’16) and Amandine Pierre-Louis was named the co-Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2017.
“This award is a testament to who Bianca is and the high standard of excellence she aspires to and lives up to every day,” Mountaineer head coach Nikki Izzo-Brown said. “She trains like she plays. If it’s not in the classroom, it’s on the playing field. I’m so happy she was awarded for her hard work.”
A 2018 Missouri Athletic Club (MAC) Hermann Trophy candidate and Senior CLASS Award finalist, St. Georges helped the Mountaineer defense post nine shutouts this season, four in Big 12 regular-season matches; no conference opponent scored more than one goal against the WVU backline.
In the regular season, the Mountaineers held conference opponents to a combined 14 shots on-goal. In total, WVU allowed just 11 opponent goals in
18 regular-season matches this year and held opponents to 42 corner kicks.
