Dec. 10, 2012
Sabrina D’Angelo was named Canadian U-20 Female Player of the Year for the 2012 soccer season, Canada Soccer announced today. The honor was decided in a vote shared by national-team coaches (50%) and other Canadian coaches (50%).
D’Angelo helped Canada qualify for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup as the team’s starting goalkeeper. In March, she helped Canada win a silver medal at the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship in Panama. She earned Canada’s Player of the Match honors in the 1-0 victory over Mexico in the group final. D’Angelo also earned the distinction of being just the second goalkeeper in the 10-year history of the international competition to post shutouts in all three group stage matches. In all, she posted six clean sheets in 2012, including a 6-0 win over Argentina at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup Japan 2012.
D’Angelo, of Welland, Ontario, also earned two call-ups to Canada’s national “A” team in 2012. Here at South Carolina, she started 14 matches and posted three clean sheets, earning second-team All-SEC honors. In 2011, D’Angelo earned SEC Co-Defensive and Freshman of the Year honors, powering the team to a second-round NCAA Tournament appearance.
“Sabrina couldn’t be more deserving of this honor,” said Andrew Olivier, Canada’s women’s U-20 coach. “Her performances throughout the CONCACAF Championship and FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup speak for themselves. The composure and consistency she continuously showed were those of a mature goalkeeper beyond her years, so her inclusion in the national “A” team environment didn’t come as a surprise. I would like to wish her much success in the next steps of her career.”
“I’m very excited for her. It’s quite an honor and from watching the World Cup event, it was well deserved. She was phenomenal and obviously the coaches thought highly of her performance and her all around abilities as a goalkeeper in their program. I’m happy that she was honored by her country,” said South Carolina women’s soccer head coach Shelley Smith of D’Angelo.
D’Angelo is one of 10 starters returning for 2013 edition of the South Carolina women’s soccer team.
