TAMPA - A few days after being named to the 2008 W-League Eastern All-Conference Team, the United Soccer Leagues announced University of South Florida junior goalkeeper Mallori Lofton-Malachi as the 2008 Goalkeeper of the Year as voted on by the league's coaches and general managers.

Lofton-Malachi helped guide the Tampa Bay Hellenic to a third-place finish in the Atlantic Conference. In doing so, she compiled a 6-1-2 record with three shutouts.

Her finest effort came in a shut out of the vaunted attack of the Atlanta Silverbacks, a game in which she made four saves, including a penalty kick to preserve the tie, against the league's top team.

In nine appearances in net, she allowed just five goals. She finished with 45 saves in 766 minutes played, with a goals against average of .587 goals per match.

Through the course of the season, she was selected to the USL W-League Team of the Week twice.

“This is a tremendous award for Mallori and we are very proud of her. She has showed exceptional maturity and vast improvement,” Head Coach Denise Schilte-Brown said. “We are very excited for the impact that she will bring to our team this upcoming season.”

Last fall at USF, Lofton-Malachi played in all 17 games, registering five shutouts. She compiled an impressive total of 76 saves in 1572 minutes played. Her goal per match average was 1.37.

The W-League is USL's highest level of women's soccer in the US and Canada. It is an open league, giving college players the opportunity to play alongside established international players while maintaining their collegiate eligibility. The W-League features some of the top players in the world; 54 current and former W-League players participated in the 2007 Women's World Cup in China representing nine countries and 17 current W-League teams.

Mallori and the Bulls kick off the 2008 campaign Aug. 22 at 5 p.m. against the University of North Florida at the University of Tampa.