Tavana Named To United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-East Region - Seton Hall University Athletics
Senior midfielder Natalie Tavana (Middletown, Conn.) has received another well-deserved honor for her stellar junior season as she was named Third Team A...
Kansas City, Mo. -- Senior midfielder Natalie Tavana (Middletown, Conn.) has received another well-deserved honor for her stellar junior season as she was named Third Team All-East Region by the United Soccer Coaches.
Tavana becomes just the fifth all-region selection in program history and the first since Ashley Clarke's second team selection in 2013.
At the end of the regular season, Tavana was named a unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team pick and she became the first Pirate to be named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year since SHU Athletics Hall of Famer Kelly Smith won the award in 1999. The league's awards and all-conference teams were voted on by the BIG EAST's head coaches. Coaches cannot vote for their own players.
Tavana's conference honors capped off a historic season that hasn't been seen in South Orange in roughly 20 years. She finished as the BIG EAST's goal scoring champion, pacing the conference with 12 goals overall and five goals in conference play. Her 26 points (12 goals, two assists) ranked second in the BIG EAST.
Tavana was a constant threat on offense all year, tallying 3.00 shots per game, the third-highest mark in the league. Her individual performances included the first hat trick for Seton Hall since 2006, and a three-game goal streak from Sept. 24 to Oct. 1. With her efforts this season the Pirates were able to collect their most points in the BIG EAST standings since 2011.
In the Seton Hall record books, Tavana's 12 goals and 26 points are the most in a single season since Smith's 1999 campaign when she registered a whopping 27 goals and 62 points, both program records. Tavana is the first Pirate to be named All-BIG EAST first team in 10 years when Ashley Clarke was named to the league's top team in 2013
