Dixie State freshman forward Whitley Johns and junior goalkeeper Nicole Rahman were named to the 2018 Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) South Central Region Women’s Soccer Second Team on Wednesday.
Johns, who is the lone freshman on both the D2CCA South Central region first and second team lists, earned RMAC Freshman of the Year and First Team all-RMAC honors after she finished her first collegiate season ranked in the top five in four RMAC statistical categories. The freshman led the RMAC with seven game-winning goals, while she was tied for third overall in both goals scored (12) and points (27) and was fifth in shot attempts (69).
Johns, who was a two-time RMAC Offensive Player of the Week honoree this past season, scored at least one goal in five of her final eight matches overall with two three-goal outings, and she tallied eight goals and 18 points during those final eight starts. In all, Johns found the back of the net in nine of DSU’s 19 matches overall, all of which resulted in Trailblazer wins.
In her first season as a collegiate netminder, Rahman posted a 10-1-0 record with an RMAC leading and DSU single season school-record 0.29 goals against average and a season record-tying six solo shutout wins. In fact, eight of Rahman’s 10 wins in goal overall this past season came via shutout, while her six solo clean sheets were also good for third place on DSU’s career list and her 10 wins rank her third on the single-season list and seventh on the career list.
Rahman helped direct a Trailblazer defensive backfield that surrendered just 10 goals and posted a school-record 11 shutout victories during the regular season. As a unit, DSU’s defense allowed just 7.8 shots per match (149 total shots), which includes a paltry 3.2 shots on goal (61 total), and posted a team school record 0.53 GAA.
Dixie State wrapped up its 2018 regular season with a 13-6-0 overall record and finished in a tie for fourth place in the RMAC standings at 8-5-0 (24 points) in the program’s debut season in the league. The Trailblazers also advanced to the semifinals of the RMAC tournament.
The annual regional postseason awards program, sponsored by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association, is voted on by the region’s sports information directors. In total, 12 different South Central Region institutions featured at least one All-Region player this season.
The Division II Conference Commissioners Association encourages and promotes Division II athletics and high standards of sportsmanship as important elements of higher education. The CCA is a key communications link among the conferences as they discuss views, policies and regulations that impact Division II intercollegiate athletics and work closely with the NCAA as a communications channel to NCAA Division II member colleges and universities.