Tuesday, November 3, 2015

PORTLAND, Ore. – The prime mover in Seattle Pacific’s offense, junior forward Hannah Huesers leads the selections to the 2015 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer All-Conference Team.

Huesers was named the GNAC Player of the Year and was one of six unanimous selections to the squad. She is the second consecutive Falcons’ player to be selected as Player of the Year and the eighth in the 15-year history of the conference. Huesers led the conference with 14 goals and 30 points and ended the regular season ranked 22nd in Division II in total goals.

Huesers leads four first team selections for Seattle Pacific, which finished the regular season in third place in the GNAC standings. Senior midfielder Isabel Farrell, last year’s Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year, earned her second straight selection, as did senior midfielder Laura Moore. Senior defender Shayla Page also earned first team honors after being named to the second team in 2014.

Western Washington senior Delanee Nilles was named the league’s Defender of the Year, leading four first team selections and six overall picks for the Vikings. Nilles, also a unanimous selection, anchored one of the stingiest defenses in Division II. The Vikings allowed just nine goals while their .491 team goals-against average ranks 14th in Division II.

Joining Nilles on the first team for Western Washington is senior forward Catherine Miles, the Vikings’ leading scorer, senior mifielder Savanna Moorehouse and sophomore midfielder Emily Webster. Both players joined Nilles as unanimous selections to the squad.

Western Washington head coach Travis Connell was named by his peers as the GNAC Coach of the Year for the third consecutive year. Connell has led the Vikings to a 16-1-1 record entering the GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships and a No. 2 ranking in the NSCAA Division II Coaches Poll. His team is riding a 15-match unbeaten streak into the tournament.

Simon Fraser forward Christina Dickson was voted the conference’s Freshman of the Year while Northwest Nazarene midfielder Hannah Holm was tabbed as the GNAC Newcomer of the Year. A unanimous first team selection, Dickson finished as Simon Fraser’s leading scorer with seven goals and three assists and finished fourth in the GNAC in both goals and points (17). Holm proved a steady presence for the Crusaders after transferring from the Univ. of Minnesota, registering two goals and four assists.

Rounding out the first team selections were Montana State Billings senior defender Katlyn Lokay, Concordia junior defender Shannon McMahon and Concordia junior goalkeeper Olivia Brock.

Lokay, a second team selection in 2014, was the keystone for the Yellowjackets’ defense, which allowed just 14 goals during the regular season. She enters the GNAC tournament having played all 1,521 minutes of the season.

McMahon was not only the defensive anchor for the GNAC’s newest squad, but was the top scorer for the Cavaliers with four goals. Brock finished second in the GNAC with a 0.50 goals against average and led the conference with a .905 save percentage.

Central Washington sophomore forward Mackenzie Nolte and Western Washington goalkeeper Ashley Haden were the two repeat selections to the second team. Saint Martin’s senior forward Abby McFaul, Simon Fraser junior defender Teagan Sokoran and Central Washington junior defender Allie Bohnett earned second team selections after being honorable mention picks last year.

2015 GNAC WOMEN'S SOCCER ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Player of the Year: Hannah Huesers, Seattle Pacific
Coach of the Year: Travis Connell, Western Washington
Defensive Player of the Year: Delanee Nilles, Western Washington
Freshman of the Year: Christina Dickson, Simon Fraser
Newcomer of the Year: Hannah Holm, Northwest Nazarene

HONORABLE MENTION
Central Washington: @ Abby Litka (D, So., Issaquah, Wash.), Reilly Retz (M, Jr., Kent, Wash.)
Concordia: Martha Heaps (D, So., Spokane, Wash.)
Montana State Billings: Chloe Hopps (GK, Fr., Kentlake, Wash.), Kari Kastelic (D, Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.), Dana Lubieniecki (M, Jr., Lakewood, Colo.), Jessica Spang (F, So., Billings, Mont.)
Northwest Nazarene: # Ashley Cook-Cox (M, So., Nine Mile Falls, Wash.), # Lexi Fesenbek (F, Sr., Olympia, Wash.)
Saint Martin’s: # Taylor Gersch (D, Jr., Sherwood, Ore.), Hattie North (D, Fr., Bellingham, Wash.)
Seattle Pacific: Taylor Hauck (D, Sr., Shoreline, Wash.), Emma Holm (M, Jr., Kirkland, Wash.)
Simon Fraser: Katelyn Erhardsend (M, Fr., Maple Ridge, B.C.)
Western Oregon: Makana Pundyke (F, Sr., Kula, Hawaii)
Western Washington: Elise Aylward (F, Jr., Renton, Wash.), Stephanie Hamilton (M, Sr., Orting, Wash.), Caitlyn Jobanek (M, Jr., Springfield, Ore.), Gabriela Pelogi (F, Fr., Federal Way, Wash.)

* - Unanimous Selection     + - First Team Selection In 2014     # - Second Team Selection In 2014     @ - Honorable Mention in 2014