Trent Abbott and Kristin Andrews Nguyen, two former UT Dallas soccer standouts, were added to the UT Dallas Athletics Hall of Honors in ceremonies last month.
Abbott was UT Dallas’ first student athlete to win All-American recognition, and Andrews set a number of women’s soccer scoring records as part of the Comets’ 2002 American Southwest Conference championship team. Both are members of the UT Dallas Class of 2003.
UT Dallas President David E. Daniel and Athletic Director Chris Gage presented the awards at a banquet.
It was the second group of former student athletes and administrators to be added to the UT Dallas Athletics Hall of Honors. The inaugural class was announced last year.
Andrews was one of the most prolific offensive players in
UT Dallas women’s soccer history, setting school records in several categories between 1999 and 2002.
Andrews was a key player on the Comets’ 2002 American Southwest Conference championship team, which advanced to the “Sweet 16” in the NCAA Division III national tournament. During her career, UT Dallas posted a 55-17-9 record and lost only four conference games. In her senior season, UT Dallas scored an average of 3.23 goals per game while winning 16 games, another school record.
After being named the ASC West Division Freshman of the Year in her first season, Andrews was chosen ASC All-Conference three times and was part of four straight All-Division teams. In 2002, she was selected second team All-South Region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.
Andrews played in 77 of the 80 games her team played during her four-year career, setting school records for most goals scored in a career (57) while taking a record 346 shots for UT Dallas. She also recorded 17 assists, and set another record averaging 1.7 points per game.
Andrews, a native of Alvin, Texas, earned a business administration degree from UT Dallas in 2003 and has worked the last five years for a commercial lighting company as a customer service representative. She is currently working toward teacher certification and hopes to teach or coach within the next year.
Abbott was the first UT Dallas student athlete to win All-American recognition when he was named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America first-team squad as a defender in 2002.
Abbott was a two-time American Southwest Conference Defensive Player of the Year as a member of the ASC All-Conference team, and was a three-time All-Division selection. In addition, he was twice an ASC Academic All-Conference selection and was part of the 2002 Verizon Academic All-District team.
After graduating from Euless Trinity High School in 1999, Abbott worked his way into the starting lineup for UT Dallas by his third game. He set a school record with 78 games played, 76 games as a starter and 75 consecutive starts without missing a game. During his career, the Comets were 60-14-4 and gave up just 76 goals in the 78 games he played as a defender.
After earning his business administration degree in 2002, he played four years of professional soccer with the DFW Tornados of the Premier Development League and Premier Arena Soccer League from 2004-2008. He has worked for the Banana Republic retail chain since 2003. Abbott additionally continues to coach amateur soccer in the Dallas area.
Media Contacts: Bruce Unrue, UT Dallas, (972) 883-6308, cbu031000@utdallas.edu
or the Office of Media Relations, UT Dallas, (972) 883-2155, newscenter@utdallas.edu
Trent Abbott and Kristin Andrews Nguyen