Dec. 17, 2012

OXFORD, Miss. – Junior forward Rafaelle Souza continued to pull in accolades for her performance both on the field of play and in the classroom when she was named a Scholar All-America selection by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

Souza, who has already been named the Co-Scholar Athlete of the Year in the Southeastern Conference and a Capital One Academic All-District selection, added to the list of achievements when she was tabbed as a second team Scholar All-America by the NSCAA.

“We’re certainly very proud of Rafaelle and everything she has accomplished,” said Ole Miss head coach Matt Mott. “She embodies all of the characteristics you think of when we talk about being a student-athlete. To earn All-SEC and All-Region honors on the field this season while maintaining a high GPA in Engineering is a tremendous accomplishment. We couldn’t be more excited for her.”

The native of Salvador, Brazil, holds a 3.72 grade point average in Engineering at the University of Mississippi. She was one of only three players from the SEC to earn a spot on one of the three Scholar All-America teams from the NSCAA.

She is the fifth player in Ole Miss history to earn Scholar All-America honors from the NSCAA and the most recent since Danielle Johnson was selected as a recipient in 2009. Other Rebels earning a spot on the Scholar All-America team include Jessica O’Neill (2000), Jennifer Soileau (2000) and Kristal Menard (2003).

Souza helped lead the Rebels this season with 13 goals and 33 points, tying for the league lead in both categories along with teammate Mandy McCalla. She also finished in the top 10 in the SEC in assists (7) as the Rebels advanced to the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.

It was the 14th appearance in the SEC Tournament in program history for Ole Miss, but only the fifth time for the Rebels to advance past the first round of play.

Souza delivered four game-winning goals on the season against Louisiana-Lafayette, UALR, Arkansas and LSU. Her game-winner against LSU came with 43 seconds left to give the Rebels a 1-0 victory over the Tigers and put Ole Miss into the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.