The Big South conference announced Tuesday afternoon 2023 women’s soccer preseason awards for its nine member institutions. Radford University was selected to finish first with seven first-place votes while Helena Willson earned preseason Defensive Player of the Year honors and four Highlanders total were named to the preseason all-conference team.
Radford returns to the top of the conference’s preseason poll as the Highlanders received seven first-place votes and two second-place votes for a total of 79 points. It marks the program’s first time receiving first-place votes since the 2021 spring season and the team’s first top overall selection since 2019.
USC Upstate was close behind the Highlanders as the young upstart program collected one first-place vote and five second-place votes for a total of 69 points. High Point rounded out the first-place vote receivers with one vote and finished with 63 points to be picked third. Gardner-Webb, the Highlanders’ opponent in the 2022 championship, was selected to finish fourth with 53 points.
Willson highlighted the awards for the Highlanders as she earned the preseason Defensive Player of the Year award after an incredible 2022 season. Willson is the sixth Highlander to win the award and the first since Kayla Thomas earned it before the 2021 spring season. Willson captained the Highlanders defensive backline in 2022 and scored the game-winning goal in the 2022 Big South Championship.
Her four goals and three assists were the most among qualifying defenders in the conference. Defensively, in a team-high 1,778 minutes played she helped the team post eight shutouts on the year including five straight in that championship run.
The Big South introduced a new addition to its preseason awards for 2023 as a 13-member preseason team was named. Radford saw four players named which led the conference. Alexeis Kirnos, Lilly Short and Amy Swain earned three of the four spots eligible for midfielders in the conference. Wilson rounded out the quartet, leading the conference defenders.
Kirnos will be one of the Highlanders top-returning offensive option in 2023 as she brings back 20 total points. Her six goals were tied for second-most for the program in 2022 and she tallied four assists to go along with that total. In three penalty kick attempts, Kirnos was also perfect in that regard nailing all three.
Right there with Kirnos is Swain who is another top returning offensive option for the Highlanders. Swain also netted six goals in the 2022 campaign to tie for second-most on the team and had a second-best total in assists with five for a total of 17 points. Swain was one of seven returning Highlanders to record over 1,000 minutes on the field in 2022.
Rounding out the awards list was last year’s freshman-phenom Short who returns for her sophomore campaign. Short was one of the best newcomers to the conference in 2022 immediately making an impact with two game winning goals. Short tallied four assists to go with three goals for 10 total points and joins Kirnos and Swain as returning Highlanders with 1,000+ minutes played in 2022.
The Highlanders are currently competing in preseason matches to warm up to their 2023 campaign. Radford hosts Concord this Sunday, August 13th, at 7 p.m. in their final preseason match. The regular season begins at home for Radford as they host Emory & Henry in the friendly confines of Cupp Stadium on Thursday, August 17th. Admission is free to all of Radford’s preseason and regular season matches.
2023 BIG SOUTH PRESEASON WOMEN’S SOCCER POLL
F: Dara Russo, USC Upstate (Preseason Offensive Player of the Year)
F: Jenea Knight, Charleston Southern
F: Ashley Finn, USC Upstate
F: Emily Mashinski, High Point
MF: Alexeis Kirnos, Radford
MF: Klara Ovefelt, Gardner-Webb
MF: Lilly Short, Radford
MF: Amy Swain, Radford
D: Helena Willson, Radford (Defensive Player of the Year)
D: Alex DePerno, High Point
D: Anna Doane, UNC Asheville
D: Camilia Lezcano, Gardner-Webb
GK: Cora Brendle, USC Upstate (Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year)
2023 BIG SOUTH PRESEASON WOMEN’S SOCCER POLL
| Rk | Team (first-place votes) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Points |
| 1. | Radford (7) | 7 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 79 |
| 2. | USC Upstate (1) | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 69 |
| 3. | High Point (1) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | – | – | – | – | 63 |
| 4. | Gardner-Webb | – | – | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | 53 |
| 5. | Charleston Southern | – | – | 2 | – | 3 | 2 | 1 | – | 1 | 41 |
| 6. | Longwood | – | – | – | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | – | – | 38 |
| 7. | UNC Asheville | – | – | – | – | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 26 |
| 8. | Presbyterian | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 4 | 2 | 19 |
| 9. | Winthrop | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 17 |
–Radford University Athletics