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Perkins Earns Second National Honor 10/25/2005 Nashville — Junior defender Kim Perkins (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) was selected to the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week for the second time this season. Perkins joins junior goalkeeper Tyler Griffin (Charlotte, N.C.) as Vanderbilt’s two-time honorees to the TDS National Team this season. Junior forward Lea Lafield (Dallas, Texas) also earned the distinction once this year. P> Perkins inclusion on the team is as much a testament to the team’s defense as it is to her individual play. The Commodores recently broke the school and SEC record for most shutouts in a single season when the team blanked No. 23 Ole Miss in a 0-0 double-overtime tie. It was the teams 13th shutout this year, one more than the 1994 VU team had when it initially set the record. In 2003 both Tennessee and Auburn each tied the record with 12 of their own. Make no mistake however, while the team is deserving of recognition for breaking the record, Perkins is one of the main reasons that the team was able to break the record. She is one of four members of the No. 20 ranked Commodores to have started all 18 games this season, she also leads the team in minutes played 1,613 out of a possible 1,640 minutes. To put in perspective how valuable Perkins is to head coach Ronnie Coveleskie Hill, Perkins is the only player with more than 1,600 minutes and only two other players have logged more than 1,250 minutes this season. P> While Perkins is one of the main reasons that the Commodores are ranked near the top of all the team defensive statisticas nationally, from shots allowed per game, goals against avergae and shutout percentage, she has also been involved in the attack this season. She has collected some assists on wonderful serves and crosses, and score her first goal off of a corner kick by Lafield last weekend. Perkins and the team will have their chance to extend their new record when the team play host to Kentucky for Senior Night in the regular-season finale Friday night at 7 p.m. at the VU Soccer Complex. The game will be broadcast by Fox Sports South and aired via taped delay on SEC-TV Sunday, Oct. 30 at 2:30 p.m. |
