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Soccer Standout Caroline Miller Had A Record-Setting Season S By Whitelaw Reid ome two months after being named Virginia's Female Athlete of the Year, soccer player Caroline Miller still has to pinch herself. At the athletic department's annual awards dinner in May, Miller took home the prestigious accolade, beating out a number of very worthy candidates, including Olympians Paige Selenski (field hockey) and Lauren Perdue (swim- female athlete of the year caroline miller ming). "It was truly a great honor because this is such a great school and there are so many great athletes to come out of here," Miller said. "To be recognized like that really meant a lot." The 2012 ACC Offensive Player of the Year, Miller set single-season school records with 20 goals and 47 points last season. The conference leader in goals and points, Miller was a 2012 NSCAA first-team All-American and became the first Cavalier to be named a finalist for the Hermann Trophy, the nation's top individual women's soccer award. "She had an incredible year," Virginia head coach Steve Swanson said. "Anybody who fol- lows college soccer knows that to score 20 goals facing the competition that we faced last year just doesn't happen very often. "She was very deserving." Miller, a Rockville, Md., native, ended her season on a school-record eight-game goal-scoring streak and was named first-team All-ACC for the second consecutive season. She was also selected to the ACC All-Tournament team when Virginia won the 2012 ACC championship. "She's one of the major reasons why our team was successful, not only in the ACC Tournament, but the NCAA Tournament," said Swanson, whose squad made it to the round of 16. Miller closed her career with 45 goals and 109 points, both ranking second in school history. She scored a lot of big goals in her Virginia career, but one of the biggest came during her third-year season in a 1-0 double overtime win over North Carolina in Chapel Hill. When Miller's blast landed in the back of the net, UVa snapped a 0-35-2 all-time skid against the Tar Heels — an infamous streak that dated back to the program's inception in 1985. "I think that was just the best feeling I've ever had," Miller said. "And as a team, to have finally beaten them after 20-something years. It was just incredible. You can't really compare it to anything."