Tuesday, November 7, 2023
by Thomas Lal

PORTLAND, Ore. – As the top playmaker in the conference and a veteran leader for regular season champion Seattle Pacific, Sophie Beadle was voted by conference coaches as the 2023 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Player of the Year.

Somewhat fittingly, Beadle leads the 2023 GNAC Women’s Soccer All-Conference team as the 10th Seattle Pacific player to earn the honor after leading the team to its 10th regular season title. The senior forward from Rainier, Wash., is among four Falcons to earn first team all-GNAC honors, the most of any program. Western Washington follows SPU with three first-team honorees while Western Oregon has two. Northwest Nazarene and Simon Fraser each had one first team all-conference honoree.

Beadle has had an outstanding season as a driving force in the Falcons’ high-scoring offense, leading the conference with seven assists and 0.47 assists per game so far. She added one goal of her own, a game-winner against Northwest Nazarene on Sept. 28, to bring her regular season points total to nine.

In addition to Beadle’s Player of the Year accolades, the Falcons picked up two more of the conference’s special awards. Sophomore forward and honorable mention all-conference Taylor Krueger was named a Co-Newcomer of the Year alongside Simon Fraser junior forward Mikayla Tupper who also earned honorable mention all-conference. Krueger finished her first GNAC regular season campaign ranking eighth in the conference with 11 points on four goals and three assists while Tupper ranked ninth in points per game with seven courtesy of three goals and one assist.

Seattle Pacific head coach Arby Busey was voted as the Coach of the Year after helming SPU to an undefeated 9-0-4 GNAC record (12-2-5 overall). The honor marks the second time that Busey has been named the Coach of the Year after he won the award in 2021.

First team all-GNAC honoree Claire Henninger was named the Defensive Player of the Year after leading the Vikings’ defense in net with a 10-3-4 record, a 0.50 goals against average, a .875 save percentage and nine shutouts. Henninger also earned first team all-conference honors for the first time in her career as a unanimous selection.

Sophomore forward Morgan Manalili and sophomore defender Asia Hardin join Henninger as first team all-GNAC honorees for the Vikings. Manalili was a unanimous selection and ranks second in the GNAC with 15 points on six goals and three assists. Hardin has been a mainstay for the Western Washington back line, starting every match and playing all but 15 minutes across those 19 contests.

Northwest Nazarene midfielder Nicole Lewis was named the GNAC Freshman of the Year after a sterling debut campaign that saw her rank second for the Nighthawks and tie for fourth in the conference with 12 points on three goals and six assists. Lewis is also one of three midfielders to earn second team all-conference honors.

Joining Beadle in representing Seattle Pacific on the first team are senior forward Jacqueline Blakeley, junior midfielder Lauren Snedeker and senior defender Marissa Bankey. Heading into the GNAC Championships, Blakeley leads the conference with 16 points and seven goals, both career single-season highs. Along with Blakeley, Snedeker and Bankey have both started all 19 matches for SPU this season. Snedeker and Bankey are both tied for sixth on the team with six points. Snedeker has two goals and two assists while Bankey has three goals.

Western Oregon landed two first-team all-conference selections in senior midfielder Lulu Sadler and senior defender Hannah Rispler. The first-team selection is the first of Sadler’s career and comes in a year where she has started all 18 matches for WOU and played all but 15 minutes of the season, adding one assist in the process. Rispler earned unanimous selection as a first-team honoree after playing every minute of the regular season and ranking fourth on the team with six points on two goals and two assists.

Northwest Nazarene is represented by senior defender Makayla Roggow on the first team. Roggow started all but one match for NNU this season, logging over 1,500 minutes on the back line for a Nighthawks defense that ranks second in the GNAC with a 0.78 goals against average. She also added offensive upside with two goals on the year.

Simon Fraser junior midfielder Isabella Muzzolini earned first team all-GNAC honors for the first time in her career after a regular season where she appeared in all 16 of SFU’s matches, starting 15. Across those contests, Muzzolini logged over 1,300 minutes and picked up three assists, all against GNAC competition.

Seattle Pacific, Western Washington and Western Oregon each landed five selections between the first and second teams while Simon Fraser had four and Northwest Nazarene had three.