BATON ROUGE -- The Hermann Trophy candidacy of LSU senior midfielder Malorie Rutledge is gaining momentum as the two-time SEC Offensive Player of the Year picked up a first-team selection to the 2009 TopDrawerSoccer.com Women’s College Team of the Season on Thursday morning.

This marks the third-straight season that Rutledge has been honored by TopDrawerSoccer.com after she received honorable mention honors in 2007 and second-team honors in 2008.

Rutledge has fueled an LSU attack that ranks among the best in the country this fall as she has scored 10 goals and 12 assists for 32 points this fall. With her performance, Rutledge is now LSU’s all-time leading point scorer with 25 goals and 46 assists for 96 points during a brilliant four-year career.

A native of Sharpsburg, Ga., Rutledge earned her second career SEC Offensive Player of the Year honor and her third career First-Team All-SEC selection after leading the Tigers to their third-straight SEC West championship and second-straight No. 2 finish in the final SEC standings with a 14-4-4 overall mark with a school record 8-2-1 record and 25 points in league play.

Rutledge has proven to be one of the more feared attackers in the country during her career, and her effort this fall while scoring five goals and nine assists for 19 points in SEC play has solidified her reputation.

The Tigers are set to compete in the NCAA Tournament for the third-straight season as they earned a No. 4 national seed from the NCAA selection committee and will play host to the first and second rounds.

LSU will take on Arkansas-Pine Bluff in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at 7 p.m. CT at the LSU Soccer Complex. With a win, the Tigers would advance to the second round to be held Sunday at 1 p.m. where they would face the winner of Friday’s match between Texas A&M and Memphis.

2009 TopDrawerSoccer.com Women’s College Team of the Season

First Team
GK, Katie Fraine, Florida
D, Whitney Engen, North Carolina
D, Ali Riley, Stanford
M, Becky Edwards, Florida State
M, Tobin Heath, North Carolina
M, Malorie Rutledge, LSU
F, Lauren Cheney, UCLA
F, Danielle Foxhoven, Portland
F, Tiffany McCarty, Florida State
F, Kelley O’Hara, Stanford
F, Christen Press, Stanford

Second Team
GK, Kelsey Davis, Portland
D, Lauren Hyde, Florida
D, Brittany Taylor, Connecticut
M, Courtney Barg, Notre Dame
M, Sinead Farrelly, Virginia
M, Sophie Schmidt, Portland
F, Michelle Enyeart, Portland
F, Lauren Fowlkes, Notre Dame
F, Sydney Leroux, UCLA
F, Casey Nogueira, North Carolina
F, Danielle Toney, Penn State

Third Team
GK, Jillian Mastroianni, Boston College
D, Jen Anzivino, Rutgers
D, Lauren Barnes, UCLA
M, Hailey Beam, Charlotte
M, Carolyn Blank, West Virginia
M, Becca Thomas, Central Florida
F, Sarah Hagen, Wisconsin-Milwaukee
F, Melissa Henderson, Notre Dame
F, Jill Hutchinson, Wake Forest
F, Elizabeth Redmond, Duke
F, Katie Schoepfer, Penn State