Dec. 17, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Senior Raquel Rodriguez (San Jose, Costa Rica) has been tabbed as a nominee for the Honda Sport Award, as announced by of THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards (CWSA) Thursday. Rodriguez joins Kadeisha Buchanan (West Virginia University), Rachel Daly (St. John's University), and Emily Sonnett (University of Virginia) as the four nominees for the Honda Sport Award for women's soccer.
The nominees were chosen by a panel of coaches representing the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). The Honda Sport award winner for soccer will be announced next week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.
During her senior year, Rodriguez started all 27 matches, recorded six goals and six assists. In the national championship match against No. 20 Duke, she scored the game-winning goal in the 72nd minute of play.
Rodriguez' honors this season include: Most Outstanding Player on Offense of the Women's College Cup, Women's College Cup All-Tournament Team, NSCAA Scholar First Team All-American, NSCAA All-Great Lakes First Team, NSCAA First Team All-American, MAC Hermann Trophy Finalist, All-Big Ten First Team, Academic All-Big Ten, TopDrawerSoccer Best XI First Team and TopDrawerSoccer's Player of the Year.
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the CWSA for the past 40 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA-sanctioned sports and signifies "the best of the best in collegiate athletics". The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2016 Honda Cup which will be presented on a live telecast on June 27, 2016, in the Founders' Room at the Galen Center on the campus of the University of Southern California in downtown Los, Angeles.
The CWSA, celebrating its 40th year, has honored the nation's top NCAA women athletes recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.0 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women's athletics programs at the institutions.