Upper School Soccer

Soccer schedules and game scores

• Varsity Girls' Soccer
• Varsity Boys' Soccer
• JV Boys' Soccer

2011 THSSCA DII A All-State team

Congratulations to Honeye Heydari, Shelby Jordan, Carrie Cobb, and Shelby Williams for making the THSSCA DII A All-State team.

Tennessee Sports Writers Association All-State Team

The TSWA named three of the Lady Bruins to the Division II all-state team: Forward Honeye Heydari, defender Shelby Jordan, and goalkeeper Carrie Cobb.

 

All-West Tennessee Soccer Honors 2011

The Jackson Sun awarded Honeye Heydari with All-West Tennessee Offensive Player of the Year and Shelby Jordan with All-West Tennessee Defensive Player of the Year. Heydari finished the season with 30 goals and 14 assists. Jordan led a defense that allowed just 10 goals in 22 games.

The Jackson Sun also named Carrie Cobb as Goalkeeper of the All-West Tennessee Girls’ Soccer Team. Honorable mentions include Shelby Williams, Rachel Giampapa and Addison Dunn.

 

Two in a Row On and Off the Field

For USJ soccer players, success on the field is not their only goal.  They also want to achieve success in the classroom, and they have done just that. Both 2010-2011 boy’s and girl’s varsity soccer teams have been recognized for their achievements in the classroom with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Team Academic Award. For the girls program, this marks the second year they have earned the honor and earned the state title. The boy’s team maintained its academic excellence last school year while taking its season to the State Final Four.

The NSCAA Team Academic Award recognizes teams across the country that have displayed exemplary performance in the classroom as a team, having an overall minimum grade point average of 3.25 for the entire academic year. For the 2010-2011 academic year, a total of 350 soccer teams, 135 boys and 215 girls, earned the prestigious award. Among these programs, only 59 schools received the honor for both their girls and boys teams. Of the 350 honorees, 62 received the award for the second year in a row.

Meanwhile, the Lady Bruins Soccer team and former Coach Chris Leonardi were honored by Mayor Jerry Gist and the City of Jackson. During the Jackson City Council meeting on December 6, Gist read a proclamation stating that December 6, 2011, is the University School of Jackson Lady Bruins Soccer Team day!

 

2011 Season Recap

After winning the first ever soccer title in West Tennessee in 2010, the 2011 Lady Bruins had a lot of work to do to top such an accomplishment. After a 20-1-1 record, a Region title (1st ever in DII A), and a 2nd State title, this group of girls did more than top 2010. They put this soccer program among some of the elite programs in Tennessee; they are the seventh team ever to repeat (Franklin, Baylor, Ridgeway, FRA, CAK, and Houston). In the final, they did it again in dramatic fashion being down 1-0 and coming back to win it 2-1 in overtime with a goal from freshman Rachel Giampapa. Our top scorer was senior Honeye Heydari with 30 goals and 14 assists. In the back, senior captain Shelby Jordan and her young teammates only allowed 10 goals in 22 games. Our senior, GK, Carrie Cobb ended the season with 15 shutouts. The seniors' resume speaks for itself with two state titles, two region titles, and a record of 70-12-8 over the last four years. With all of those accomplishments came a few individual accolades. The following players were voted to the All-Region team: Shelby Jordan (MVP), Honeye Heydari, Rachel Giampapa, and Shelby Williams. The All District team members were: Honeye Heydari (MVP), Shelby Jordan, Carrie Cobb, and Shelby Williams.

Lady Bruins repeat as state champions!

By beating Franklin Road Academy in overtime in the championship game, the Lady Bruins soccer team won the state champtionship for the second year in a row. Leading the team were the eight seniors who wanted to end their final season with the state win.

2011 Region Champs The girls soccer team won the 2011 Division II-A West Region Championship game. Named to the All-District 2 Team were Shelby Jordan, Carrie Cobb, Shelby Williams, and Honeye Heydari (District MVP). Named to the All-Region Team were Shelby Williams, Honeye Heydari, Rachel Giampapa, and Shelby Jordan (Region MVP).

Pictured left to right are Carrie Cobb, Shelby Williams, Shelby Jordan, Honeye Heydari, and Rachel Giampapa.

2011 Girls Soccer Team

The 2011 Girls Soccer Team members are from left to right, front row, Emily Sanderson, Baylee Hill, Emily Mitchell, Lauren Pitcairn, Shelby Williams, Bethany Dietz, Sara Carlin Slack, Rachel Giampapa, Rachel Butler, Addison Dunn, and Caitlin McGill; back row, Kaitlyn Ross, Shelby Jordan, Madison Perchik, Honeye Heydari, Sarah Pierce, Mary Alex Richards, Carrie Cobb, Anna Pearson, Meredith Masterson, Clare Williams, and Coach Chris Leonardi.

Girls win USJ's first state soccer championship by defeating St. George's Independent School in Collierville.	See pictures from the 2010 season!

Girls soccer earns state championship, national academic award

For the varsity girls soccer team, 2010-2011 was the school year that it all came together.

For the first time in school history, USJ girls soccer won a state championship. On Friday, November 5, the team defeated St. George's 2 to 1 in the state finals.

A few weeks later, the school was notified that the 19 student athletes on the girls team received the National Coaches Association of America's Team Academic Award for exemplary performance in the classroom. To be one of 385 soccer teams nationally to win that recognition, the team's GPA (adding every player's GPA and dividing by the number of players) had to be a minimum of 3.25 for the 2009-2010 academic year. USJ's team average GPA was 3.43.

"I've had a lot of great players and great teams at USJ," said Coach Chris Leonardi, "but this was the most focused group. As they approached the state championship, they truly believed they could win."
As the season played out, the team had players who could score consistently, a good goal keeper, and many solid players in other pos

itions, Leonardi said. "After that, everything fell into place. Four of our last five games went into overtime."

Leonardi started the girls team in fall 1999 with a mix of girls who could play soccer and others who were interested in learning. By 2003, the team made its first trip to the state tournament. Out of 11 seasons, the team has been to state seven times.

Over the years, the team as a whole has gotten better. The girls have a summer workout program that includes running, sprints, and good nutrition, making them more fit as they begin the season. All of the girls are playing on club teams in the off season. "The girls are very disciplined on and off the field," Leonardi says.

That includes academics. "That's the first thing we talk about," said Leonardi, who considers the GPA award a great accomplishment. "Academics is our number one priority when you go to USJ. When I'm driving to a game, I look back in the bus; they're doing their homework and helping one another."

And, yes, he says, he would like to think that he has gotten better as a coach. Carilyn Jordan, the mother of All-State player Shelby Jordan, has seen that growth: "Coach has always held himself to a high technical standard, in terms of his licensing, his professionalism, and the discipline to which he holds his teams… He is probably the most storied coach in Jackson in terms of how tough he is and how high his expectations are for these kids. But there's been, I believe, an evolution in terms of his communication with his players, which is far more open and reasonable than it has been in the past, and through that growth, success has finally come."
 
That success this year was made with six Eighth Graders and no seniors on the team. Five of the Eighth Graders were starters. "Next year will be exciting," Leonardi said. "I'm looking forward to it."

Girls Soccer Players receive All-West Tennessee and All-State Honors

Shelby Jordan and Honeye Heydari were named to the All-State girls soccer team for 2010.

The Jackson Sun's All-West Tennessee Girls Soccer top honors went to USJ players and coaches across the board. Honey Heydari was named Offensive Player of the Year, and Shelby Jordan was named Defensive Player of the Year.

Goalkeeper Carrie Cobb was named to the All-West Tennessee team, while Madison Perchik, Rachel Giampapa and Shelby Williams received honorable mentions.

District/Region Awards

From left, Shelby Jordan received All-District, All-District Co-MVP, and All-Region awards; Honeye Heydari received All-District and All-Region awards; and Carrie Cobb earned an All-District award. Coach Chris Leonardi was named All District Co-Coach of the Year.

Besides the state championship, this also was the season that Coach Chris Leonardi reached 200 wins since he started the girls soccer team at USJ. The team beat JCS to reach the milestone.

Boys Soccer, Spring 2009

Senior, Thomas McKnight was named the Jackson Sun's Player of the Year for soccer and the Best of the West Championship Tournament Most Valuable Player. The Bruins won the Best of the West Tournament title for the third time.

Named to the All-West Tennessee soccer team were Bruins Danny Smigielski and Kei Kato.

The boys Varsity soccer ended its 2009 season in the quarterfinals of the Class A-AA state tournament with a loss to Humme-Fogg (1-0) in overtime. The two teams battled to a 0-0 draw through the 80 mintues of regulation play, in which the Bruins had eight shots on goal compared to Humme-Fogg's three. USJ closed its season with a 22-2 record.

The Bruins journey to the state tournament started with a loss to North Side in the District 13 A-AA championship but still advanced to the Region 7 A-AA tournament . Kei Kato, Thomas McKnight, and Tyler Jones were named to the All-District team with McKnight, Jones, and Will Pierce being named to the All-Tournament team. In regional action, the Bruins beat Dyersburg 3-1 in the semifinals to secure their spot in sectional play. The Bruins faced North Side again for the Regional title.

Girls Fall 2008 Varsity Soccer

2008 Varsity Girls Soccer team, Region Champions. Making the All-Region team: Elizabeth Crowder, Catherine Hudson, Nicole Mitchell, and Honeye Heydari. Elizabeth was the Region MVP.

The Lady Bruins 2008 fall team was ranked sixth in Class A-AA. The team advanced to the state tournament for the fifth time in six seasons, but lost in the state quarterfinals. Senior Elizabeth Crowder received region MVP accolades. The 2008 District 13 A-AA All-District team for girls soccer included USJ players Honeye Heydari, Shelby Jordan, and Nicole Mitchell. Honeye was named the district’s most valuable player.

Freshmen Shelby and Honeye also made the Tennessee 94 Olympic Development Program team and eighth grader Christophe Nabhan made the Tennessee 96 Olympic Development Program team. Information about the ODP program can be find at: www.tnsoccer.org. Though this is not the first time USJ had students make the development teams, it is rare for a school the size of USJ to have three players selected, said Coach Chris Leonardi. “It is a great accomplishment to have two players to represent Tennessee out of 18 in the State of Tennessee for the 94 girls.”

Varsity Boys Soccer 2008

The boys soccer team advanced to the state tournament after beating Haywood in the sectionals, 5-0. The team finished their season as semi-finalists in the state play-offs.

The team won the region title game 2-0 against North Side. Players selected to the All Region 7 team were Christian Kurth, Scott Metcalf, Thomas McKnight, and Danny Smigielski. Christian was the MVP. The team defeated North Side 1-0 to win the District Championship game. Players selected to the All-District team were Christian Kurth, Kei Kato, and Scott Metcalf. Scott was MVP. The following players made the All Tournament team: Tyler Jones, Thomas McKnight, Christian Kurth, and Scott Metcalf. Christian was MVP.