Courtesy of LA Tech Athletic Communications
Sophomore defender Mary Helen Burford has been named to Conference USA’s All-Conference Third Team, per the league office’s release Friday morning, while the Bulldog soccer team fell 4-1 to Liberty Sunday in the league tournament in Lynchburg, Virginia.
This is the first time Burford has received All-CUSA recognitions in just her second season of collegiate soccer.
Burford, native of Shreveport, has been one of LA Tech’s mainstays on the back line of head coach Steve Voltz‘s defense. She has started in all 18 regular-season matches for the Bulldogs, posting a full 90 minutes in 13 matches including 10 of the final 11 fixtures of the season.
She is the only Bulldog to have logged at least 1,000 minutes in each of the past two seasons and is the fourth to have recorded at least 1,500 minutes in a single season since 2023. Freshman Alexe Drolet is the only other Bulldog with at least 1,500 minutes this season.
With her recognition, Burford becomes the 14th Bulldog to receive All-Conference USA honors and the 19th to be named to an All-Conference squad in program history. This also marks the 14th consecutive season a Bulldog has earned an All-Conference tab with LA Tech marking at least one Bulldog on an All-CUSA team since joining the league ahead of the 2013 season.
Burford and her Bulldog teammates took an early 1-0 lead on Sunday over the No. 2 seed and host Flames, but Liberty answered with four unanswered goals before halftime to build a lead and then coast to the victory.
Tech ends its season with a record of 4-13-2.
