TALLAHASSEE, Fl. — The Florida State soccer team has placed four student-athletes on the United Soccer Coaches All-Atlantic Region Team.
The duo of Malia Berkely and Deyna Castellanos were named to the first team, while Jaelin Howell was named to the second team and Yujie Zhao was named to the third team. The Seminoles are tied for the second most first team members in the Atlantic Region with two. Castellanos was named to the All-Region team for the fourth consecutive season, Howell and Zhao were named for the second straight year and Berkely earned her first All-Region honor.
It is the second straight season that the Seminoles had four members on the All-Region teams and the 11th time that the Noles have placed four on an All-Region team.
Berkely has anchored Seminole defense that has recorded 10 shutouts this season. The redshirt junior captain from Liberty Township, Ohio helped lead a defense that allowed 1.09 goals against average and outscored their opponents 49-27. The Seminoles also earned ranked wins against No. 16 Wisconsin, No. 24 Colorado, No. 9 Clemson, No. 20 Virginia Tech, and No. 9 Duke in the regular season. The Seminoles also earned three ranked wins in the post season with wins over No. 22 Clemson, No. 16 Brown and No. 17 UCLA. Berkely also made her presence known on the offensive end, scoring two goals while assisting on four others.
Castellanos led the Seminoles with 35 points on 12 goals and 11 assists, finishing her career as one of the most decorated Seminole soccer players in program history. She tallied five game-winning goals this season, including three against ranked teams – No. 9 Clemson, No. 9 Duke and No. 17 USF. She now has 20 game-winning goals, which is the most all-time in FSU history. Castellanos also finished her career ranked second in goals (48) and second in points (118) at Florida State.
Howell has been the catalyst of the Florida State offense and defense in the midfield this season, competing for long balls by using her physicality and aerial ability to take and maintain possession of the ball. She tallied 14 points on five goals and four assists, scoring the game-winning goal against Clemson in the first round of the ACC Tournament and assisting on the game-winners against Florida and South Alabama.
Zhao finished her second season in the Garnet and Gold ranked third on the team in points with 16. Those 16 points came from five goals and six assists. She earned game winners against Florida and Miami.
