Blanford Earns NEAC Third Team All-Conference Honors
GANSEVOORT, N.Y. – Senior Shannon Blanford (Fayetteville, N.Y.) was selected to the North Eastern Athletic Conference Third Team All-Conference squad, the conference office announced on Monday following a poll of the league's coaching staffs. Blanford and the Express recently wrapped up the 35th season of varsity women's soccer in Aurora.
As a senior captain, Blanford was a key cog in the Wells midfield in 2014 as the team posted 81 total points of offense, the most dating back to the 2012 season. She struck for one goal and four assists for six points and contributed greatly to one of the most improved Wells defenses in recent memory. Wells' team goals-against average of 2.78 was the lowest in nearly three seasons.
For her career, Blanford tied the all-time program record for games played (72) and set the team record for games started (72) and has tallied the second-most career points of any Wells player in the modern era, dating back to 1986. She has scored 30 goals and tallied 21 assists for 81 points (30-21=81). As a freshman in 2011, she scored 14 goals and tallied 10 assists for 38 points (14-10=38) and concluded season ranked 43rd in the country in points per game (2.11) and 49th amongst all Division III athletes with 38 total points on the season.
Her team's Rookie of the Year in 2011, Blanford is a three-time NEAC Scholar-Athlete and has tied Seyda Akyuz '11 for the most academic awards from the conference. She was also the College's first-ever Capital One Academic All-District selection, a prestigious award designed to recognize outstanding performances on the playing field and in the classroom. Blanford was also voted as team captain as a junior and a senior.
Outside of the soccer field, Blanford was also a member of the softball team as a freshman. Collecting 24 hits in 80 at-bats, she accumulated a .300 batting average and collected seven extra-base hits. She was also a perfect 11-for-11 in stolen bases en route to earning her team's Rookie of the Year honor in two separate sports as a freshman.
