AZUSA, Calif. -- Junior forward Theresa Broad and senior forward Sarah Yoro were each named to the NAIA All-American first team, and Azusa Pacific placed 4 players in all on the 2008 NAIA All-Americans list. It was the fourth straight season in which 4 or more Cougars received national honors, capping the postseason recognition for Azusa Pacific, which made its 11th consecutive national tournament appearance in 2008.
Six Cougars were named to the All-GSAC Women’s Soccer team, led by Broad, the 2008 GSAC Player of the Year. It was the fourth straight season in which 6 Azusa Pacific players were accorded all-conference recognition.
“It was a unanimous vote without any discussion, so that says a lot about how the other coaches see her and the dangerous threat that she is,” Cougar head coach Jason Surrell said. “She’ll tell you it’s due to the players she has around her. If we don’t some of the players we have around her, it wouldn’t make a difference how good she is.”
Broad, a 3-time NAIA All-American first team and All-GSAC pick, is the eighth Azusa Pacific player to earn the conference’s top honor, and a Cougar has won the award 10 times in the past 12 seasons. Broad is just the third player to win the award prior to her senior season for Azusa Pacific.
Yoro also made NAIA All-American first team, her second straight All-American award after earning third team recognition in 2007. Junior defender Katie Rorabaugh was a second-team pick, her second consecutive All-American nomination, and Brotherton, another repeat selection (2006 third team), rounded out the Cougars’ All-American list with her honorable mention recognition.
Brotherton was 1 of 4 Azusa Pacific seniors named to the All-GSAC team. A 2006 All-GSAC pick, Brotherton is 1 of 3 2-time all-conference selections. Yoro and Rorabaugh each earned All-GSAC consideration for the second straight season.
Senior defender Lauren Vroom and senior midfielder Karen Lawrence are both first-time selections who completed the Cougars’ All-GSAC representation after Azusa Pacific claimed its fourth straight conference title, its seventh in the past 9 seasons.
“I praise the Lord that I’m able to play with this great team,” Broad said. “It’s nothing I’ve done, it’s all my teammates. If we didn’t win, I wouldn’t get it. It shows how great the team is doing. We’re looking for a national championship, and that’s more important than any individual awards.”
Broad was the conference’s runaway scoring leader, tallying 20 goals during the regular season before finishing the year with 24, matching Azusa Pacific all-time leading scorer Kendra Payne as the only Cougars ever to post 3 consecutive 20-goal campaigns. Broad finished the year with 70 career goals, 20 shy of Payne’s Cougar career-record 90. The 5-foot-8 forward from Walnut, Calif., scored 19 goals in a 10-game stretch early in the campaign, including a pair of career-high 4-goal performances in wins over Bethel (Tenn.) and San Diego Christian.
Brotherton moved into Azusa Pacific’s top 5 in career scoring with 49 goals after an 18-goal, 12-assist regular-season campaign, and her 120 career points ranks 4th all-time in program history. She scored 8 of her 18 goals to rank third in the GSAC in scoring in conference play, registering her first career hat trick in a 4-3 overtime win over Concordia. She scored goals in 6 of the Cougars’ final 8 conference contests, with the 3-goal effort in the Concordia victory leading Azusa Pacific to its first win in program history in a game in which the Cougars trailed by a 3-1 margin. She was also the only Cougar named to the 2008 NAIA All-Tournament team.
“I think Bridget’s had her best year this year,” Surrell said. “You hope that’s what players do, that they progressively get better, and Bridget’s ability to finish goals the last handful of games has been quite remarkable. When we recruited her, we saw that potential. She’s got a natural hunger for the goal and loves to be around the goal. She’s aggressive in the goal and has a great shot, and she’s made the most of it this year.”
Yoro was Azusa Pacific’s third double-digit goal-scorer, putting away 5 of her 16 goals in GSAC play before heating up for 6 more scores in the Cougars’ 6 postseason contests. She was a perfect 4-for-4 on penalty kicks during the year, and she scored 2 goals each in the Cougars’ first 2 non-conference games as well as the GSAC-opening 6-0 win over Fresno Pacific.
“Yoro has been consistent and is just a solid, dangerous threat,” Surrell said. “One-v-one, I think she’s as good as anybody in the nation. She definitely deserves the all-conference and All-American honors.”
Rorabaugh scored 4 goals, including the equalizing penalty-kick in Azusa Pacific’s 4-3 come-from-behind overtime win at Concordia, and she ranked fifth in the conference with 7 assists in the regular season. Five of those assists came in GSAC contests, including assists of both goals in the Cougars’ 2-0 road win over the NAIA’s No. 8-ranked California Baptist, the conference runner-up. She assisted 2 goals in Azusa Pacific’s 3 national tournament contests.
“Katie’s probably the best all-around player we’ve got, and she has the ability to be the best in the back or up in the front, or wherever you need her,” Surrell said. “The Concordia coach told me I’ve been playing her in the wrong spot (after we beat them), because she put all kinds of pressure on them when she went up front and the whole game changed. You know you’re going to get a solid performance from Katie, wherever she’s playing.”
Lawrence, the 2006 NAIA Tournament Outstanding Defensive Player, played all 20 games in 2008 after missing most of the 2007 season due to an early-season injury. Lawrence had 3 assists on the season and helped hold together an Azusa Pacific midfield that fueled a Cougar attack that averaged nearly 4 goals per game and generated a 493-112 margin in total shots on the year.
“Playing Karen in the middle of the field has given us a different look,” Surrell said. “We’ve been more solid in terms of possession and winning balls in the air, and she’s been a bit of a game-changer for us. She’s done a great job for us, and she was an all-tournament player 2 years ago, so she’s got the ability to play in some different spots. She’s been huge, not just on the field, but with her leadership qualities and rallying the girls around. Those things have been huge for us.”
Vroom was the only 4-year starter on Azusa Pacific’s back line in 2008, and she anchored a defense that shut out 14 of its 22 opponents and surrendered just 14 goals on the season. She was a member of the only senior class in program history to win 4 consecutive GSAC regular-season championships.
“Her experience in the national final 2 years in a row and being solid in the back for us, her leadership and her ability to defend 1-v-1 was huge for us,” Surrell said. “She deserves all-conference, and she’s helped anchor a team that won the conference all 4 years for her. She’s worked really hard the last 2 offseasons to improve, and you can tell that she’s one of those players that keeps getting better.”
Broad, Brotherton and junior midfielder Brittany Lane were also announced as Daktronics-NAIA Women’s Scholar-Athletes, earning the award based on fulfilling criteria that include carrying a 3.50 GPA or higher as a junior or above in academic standing. In addition, junior forward Hayley Gustafson, a first-year Cougar who transferred into Azusa Pacific from Diablo Valley College, was named a GSAC Scholar Athlete along with Broad, Brotherton and Lane.
Click below for full postseason honors lists.
2008 NAIA Women’s Soccer All-Americans
