OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (9/30/21) – Recognized for her tremendous success on and off the field, Arkansas State women's soccer senior forward Sarah Sodoma was named among 30 candidates for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award^®.
 
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Divison I senior or graduate-student and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. The 30 candidates will be narrowed to 10 finalists later in the season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans, who will select one male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character, and competition.
 
An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. The Senior CLASS Award winner will be announced during the 2021 NCAA Men's and Women's College Cup® championships in December.
 
Sodoma excels in the classroom, carrying a perfect 4.0 grade-point average in both her undergraduate and graduate programs. She earned her undergraduate degree in accounting and is now on path towards completing a Master's of Accountancy. In May of 2021, she earned the Dr. Tim and Terri Langford Award, the highest Arkansas State Athletics academic honor. She was also named a CoSIDA first team Academic All-American last season. Since arriving at A-State, Sodoma has been on the Chancellor's List every semester and is a four-time Sun Belt Conference Commissioner's List selection. In the community, Sodoma has given back in multiple ways. She has volunteered at the Race for the Cure, Race to End Alzheimer's, events with Special Olympics and various soccer camps.
 
A captain for multiple seasons, Sodoma has been a proven leader on the pitch. Electing to return for a fifth year, she holds program records for goals (32), points (79), game-winning goals (9), shots (215), shots on goal (118), matches played (81) and matches started (77). She is second in assists (15) and multiple-goal games (4). Last season, she helped the Red Wolves to their first Sun Belt Conference regular season championship and was named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, SBC Offensive Player of the Year and earned her fourth all-conference nod.
Sodoma leads A-State with seven points this season, scoring three goals and assisting on another, as the Red Wolves are off to a 5-3-1 start and 2-0-0 in league play. A-State travels to face Texas State Friday at 7:00 p.m. before visiting Louisiana on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. For the latest on A-State soccer, follow the team on Twitter (@AStateSoccer), Facebook (/AStateSoccer) and Instagram (@astatesoccer).
 
2021 Senior CLASS Award Women's Soccer Candidates
Murphy Agnew – Harvard
Joelle Anderson – Pepperdine
March Barberic – Buffalo
Natalie Beckman – Denver
Jordan Brewster – West Virginia
Gabby Carle – Florida State
Maia Cella – Wisconsin
Mikayla Colohan – BYU
Naomi Girma – Stanford
Isabella Gutierrez – Furman
Sydney Harwood – Manhattan
Nicole Henry – Northwestern State
Penelope Hocking – USC
Samantha Jerabek – VCU
Sarina Jones – Monmouth
Alex Loera – Santa Clara
Dunja Mostarac – Umass Lowell
Gabby Provenzano – Rutgers
Taryn Ries – Portland
Izzy Rodriguez – Ohio State
Mijke Roelfsema – Rice
Karlina Sample – Texas A&M
Gaby Schwartz – Mulwaukee
Emily Smith – Cal
Sarah Sodoma – Arkansas State
Mimi Stines – Northern Kentucky
Abby Swanson – Loyola Chicago
Frankie Tafliaferri – Rutgers
Victoria Tran – Navy
Kelsey Turnbow – Santa Clara