Thursday, December 1, 2022

PORTLAND, Ore. – A quintet of first-team honorees leads 12 GNAC selections to the 2022 United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division II Women’s All-West Region Team.

Senior midfielder Tera Ziemer and junior forward Estera Levinte lead the way for Western Washington among first-team selections. Seattle Pacific senior defender Marissa Bankey, Western Oregon senior defender Hannah Rispler and Northwest Nazarene forward Ashley Parton were all named as first-team selections. All five players also earned First Team All-GNAC honors.

 Ziemer has netted five goals and four assists while starting all 23 matches that the Vikings have played. She earned one of those assists on the game-winning goal over Northwest Nazarene to claim the GNAC Championship. She also added a postseason goal in WWU’s 3-1 win over Colorado Mines in the NCAA quarterfinals.

Ziemer is joined by Levinte who was named to the first team after scoring seven goals and leading the conference and ranking 32nd in Division II with eight assists. Four of those assists and one goal have come in the Vikings’ postseason push. Levinte is tied for second in the GNAC with 22 points and counting.

Bankey was named to the All-West Region team after a 2022 campaign where she started all 19 of the Falcons’ matches and racked up over 1,400 minutes on the back line. She also added an offensive boost for SPU, netting four goals to go along with two assists with three of those goals coming from the penalty spot.

Rispler represents Western Oregon on the first team after being named the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year. She anchored the Wolves’ defense in 15 of the team’s 18 matches and logged over 1,200 minutes. Western Oregon recorded six shutouts with four coming in conference play.

Parton was named First Team All-West Region after being named the GNAC Player of the Year. She finished the season second in scoring for the Nighthawks with eight goals and two assists through all 20 matches of the season. Her 18 points are tied for fourth in the GNAC.

Western Washington landed the most honorees with five total selections between the three teams en route to the semifinals of the NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer Championships. Seattle Pacific had four players named, Northwest Nazarene two and Western Oregon one.