Rider's Tara Ballay Named ECAC All-Star
Rider Sports Information
DANBURY, CT—Rider University junior Tara Ballay of Delran was named to the Eastern College Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer All-Star Second Team.
A CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-American, Ballay led the Rider Broncs to their first-ever Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship and NCAA tournament as the MAAC Player of the Year.
"It is good to see Tara recognized by an outside group like the ECAC for her great performances this past season,” said Rider head coach Drayson Hounsome.
The ECAC All-Star teams were comprised of players from Penn State, West Virginia, Georgetown, Northeastern, James Madison, Virginia, La Salle, Princeton, UConn, St. John’s, Navy, Harvard, Hofstra, Wisconsin, Rutgers and Rider.
Despite suffering a broken leg and missing five games, Ballay led the MAAC in goals (11) and points (24) and was named the MAAC Offensive Player of the Year.
She returned from her injury to play in all three MAAC playoff games, helping Rider win the title.
In the classroom, Ballay compiled a 3.88 grade point average as a Psychology major.
As a freshman Ballay was named the MAAC Rookie of the Year. She was a Preseason All-MAAC selection as a sophomore but played just nine games due to a leg injury.
In 41 Rider games Ballay has compiled 17 goals and five assists for 39 career points. She enters her senior year ranked sixth on the Rider all-time scoring list, in goals and points. In the 41 games Ballay has played Rider was 24-11-6.