UK Womens Soccer Gilliland Named Finalist for 2016 NWSL Defender of the Year

Kentucky women’s soccer alumna Arin Gilliland of the Chicago Red Stars has been named as a finalist for the 2016 National Women’s Soccer Defender of the Year, the league announced Wednesday.
In the final round of voting, owners, general managers, head coaches, players, media and fans can vote from now until Sept. 29 at 11:59 p.m. ET to determine the individual award winners as well as the 2016 NWSL Best XI. Fans can vote now by accessing this link.
In just her second season with the Red Stars, Gilliland has turned heads with her play. She has started in every match this season and played every single minute of the first 17 matches of the season. She helped lead the Red Stars back four to an NWSL record shutout streak that lasted over 480 minutes – which was over a month long in duration.
Gilliland, who starred at Kentucky from 2011-14, has started in all 20 matches played thus far in the 2016 season and tallied two assists in her over 1,700 minutes on the pitch, oftentimes matching up on the opponent’s best forward.
The Red Stars are the No. 3 seed in the 2016 NWSL playoffs, which kick off Friday night. CRS will face the Washington Spirit at 8 p.m. ET from the nation’s capital. The match will be shown live on Fox Sports 1 and the Fox Sports Go app.
The winner of the semifinal match on Friday night will move into the NWSL Championship match in Houston’s BBVA Compass Stadium on Oct. 9 at 5 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1.
For the latest on the Kentucky women’s soccer team, follow @UKWomensSoccer on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, as well as on the web at UKathletics.com.
by Chris Shoals