Emory University junior Lauren Gorodetsky was named the D3Soccer.com Defender of the Year, and Sue Patberg claimed the National Coach of the Year honor, after the pair helped lead the Eagles to a second-place finish at the 2012 NCAA Division III Championships, the best finish in the program's history.
Gorodetsky was also named to the D3Soccer.com All-America First team, marking the second-straight year that she has earned the honor. Earlier in the postseason, she was placed on the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-America First Team, the third-straight year that she has claimed an all-America honor from the organization.
At the conference level, Gorodetsky is the two-time reigning University Athletic Association (UAA) Most Valuable Player, earning all-UAA First Team selections all three years of her career, and becoming the only active conference player to earn a spot on the UAA 25-Year Team.
In 2012, Gorodetsky led an Emory defense that once again finished as one of the best in Division III, as the center back was named the Most Outstanding Defensive Player at the 2012 NCAA D-III Championships. The junior was a key piece on a backline that finished 13th among Division III teams with a 0.461 goals-against average and 30th with a .583 shutout percentage, in addition to limiting teams to 7.1 shots per game and 3.6 shots on goal per game. Gorodetsky also assisted on four goals and scored one, the game-winning goal in Emory's NCAA Semifinal victory over Wheaton College (Ill.).
Meanwhile, Patberg became the first women's soccer coach in Emory history to claim a National Coach of the Year honor, after leading the team to its first NCAA Final Four appearance in the program's history. Building one of the nation's top defenses during her eight years with the program, Patberg has overseen a squad that has lost just one regular season game in the last two seasons, and reached at least as far as the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three years. Earlier in the season, she won her 100th game with the Eagles and now stands at 110-24-25 during her time at Emory. Patberg has a record of 256-112-43 for her 19-year career, which includes stays at Division I Minnesota and Georgia.
D3Soccer.com is a member of the D3Sports family of websites, specializing in the coverage Division III men's and women's soccer. The site has named an all-America team and players and coaches of the year since the 2010 season.