Monday, December 23, 2019

Nearly every week there were players from the club this past fall making headlines in the collegiate ranks, leading their teams to victories and the postseason while earning many accolades along the way, including five players that were recognized on United Soccer Coaches All-Region Teams at the conclusion of the year, 18 that were on their league’s All-Conference lists and a player that guided her squad to the national championship game.

Among the big award winners this season were Rylee Rassier, Kelsey Turnbow, Kelcie Hedge, Taryn Baxter, Chloe Gellhaus and Claire Neder.

Rassier finished her career at Northwest University as the Cascade Collegiate Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Year after a 16 goal season that ranked third in the league.

The Santa Clara duo of Turnbow and Hedge were named First Team and Second Team, respectively, All-Region selections by United Soccer Coaches after leading the Broncos to third round of the NCAA tournament. Turnbow tallied an amazing 15 goals and 10 assists on the year with Hedge registering five goals and 10 assists. Turnbow was second in points and third in goals in the West Coast Conference while the duo tied for second in assists.

Also earning United Soccer Coaches All-Region honors were Baxter, Gellhaus and Neder. The trio had fantastic seasons at DII Mercyhurst and Seattle Pacific. Baxter was a USC Second Team choice for the Atlantic Region while Gellhaus and Neder were First and Third Team selections in the West.

Baxter and Gellhaus were among a big group of freshman that had stellar starts to their careers. Baxter was honored as a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference All-Conference First Team, starting all 16 games in defense in her first season. Gellhaus was named Great Northwest Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year after finishing tied for first on the team with eight goals – she and Neder combined for 14 of the team’s 36 on the year.

Other freshman with great starts for their programs included AJ Crooks, Kelsey Crosby, Kailyn LaBrosse, Maggie Ames, Jezza Hutto, Camryn Gardner, Lyndsay Balkenbush,

After slowly working her way in Crooks was named the starting keeper at Alabama and registered two shutouts in 12 games with a nice goals against average of 1.23, earning an SEC Freshman of the Week nod along the way as they posted their best conference record since 2014. Crosby made some impressions in the WAC in her first year at Seattle University despite just eight starts in 22 games, registering three goals and three assists as they won the league title once again en route to her receiving All-Conference Second Team and All-Freshman Team honors.

LaBrosse and Ames enjoyed a run to the NCAA DII tournament with Concordia in their first season seeing plenty of action. LaBrosse was a consistent presence for the Cavaliers as she started all 18 games on the year and was fourth in minutes played as she played with fellow club alum and All-Conference selection Michaela Prothe. Jezza Hutto and Camryn Gardner made similar significant contributions for Lewis & Clark and Whitworth in the Northwest Conference. Hutto started 16 of 17 games for the Pioneers and Gardner 17 of 19 for the Pirates. Balkenbush played in 20 games for Eastern Oregon during her debut season, including in the team’s amazing postseason run to the NAIA quarterfinals at the championship site in Alabama. Also among the freshman highlights was the CC Spokane trio of Kylie Somerday, Grace Ellis and Frankie Schade. Somerday and Ellis were named NWAC All-Stars in their debut season with the Bigfoot while Schade was All-Region.

In addition to the several players and teams noted above for their postseason runs, Darby Doyle came the closest to claiming a national title and she enjoyed an amazing season at Western Washington. Doyle was a key component for the Vikings, starting 25 of the 26 games, through the year and came in with some clutch scoring efforts down the stretch to finish with a career high four goals and three assists. WWU dominated the GNAC with a perfect 12-0 record, won the conference tourney and went on a thrilling NCAA DII run to the championship game that saw them not allow a goal in their six wins leading up the the Final, a scoreless stalemate that was decided in overtime.

Check out the long list of award winners this season that are just a fraction of the players who took the field this year in the collegiate ranks, including seniors Hedge, Prothe, Rassier, Jackson Moore, Chase Reidt, Camryn Wendlandt and Drew Williams that went out on a high note.

College Awards (sorted alphabetically)

Taryn Baxter (Mercyhurst)
– United Soccer Coaches DII All-Region, Atlantic Second Team
– Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference All-Conference First Team
– INW Soccer News Best XI, Weeks 6 & 8

Noah Bushey (Florida Gulf Coast)
– INW Soccer News Best XI, Weeks 7 & 13

AJ Crooks (Alabama)
– SEC Freshman of the Week 10.14
– INW Soccer News Best XI & Player of the Week, Week 8

Kelsey Crosby (Seattle)
– WAC All-Conference Second Team
– WAC All-Freshman Team
– INW Soccer News Best XI, Week 4

Darby Doyle (Western Washington)
– GNAC All-Conference Second Team
– GNAC Offensive Player of the Week 11.04
– INW Soccer News Best XI, Weeks 11 & 13

Grace Ellis (CC Spokane)
– NWAC All-Star

Chloe Gellhaus (Seattle Pacific)
– United Soccer Coaches DII All-Region, West First Team
– GNAC Freshman of the Year
– GNAC All-Conference First Team
– GNAC Offensive Player of the Week 10.21.19
– INW Soccer News Best XI, Weeks 9 & 13

Devin Hauenstein (Humboldt)
– INW Soccer News Best XI, Week 12

Kelcie Hedge (Santa Clara)
– United Soccer Coaches All-Region, West Second Team
– WCC All-Conference Second Team
– INW Soccer News Best XI, Weeks 10 & 13

Jezza Hutto (Lewis & Clark)
– INW Soccer News Best XI, Week 5

Jenna Jensen (Eastern Oregon)
– CCC Offensive Player of the Week 8.26 & 11.18

Havana Johnson (McNeese)
– Southland All-Conference Third Team
– INW Soccer News Best XI, Week 3

Jake Levine (Northwest Nazarene)
– GNAC All-Conference, Second Team
– GNAC Offensive Player of the Week 9.30 & 11.04
– INW Soccer News Best XI, Weeks 5, 6, 11 & 13
– INW Soccer News Player of the Week, Weeks 5 & 11

Riley Martinson (Embry-Riddle AU)
– Cal Pac All-Conference Second Team
– INW Soccer News Best XI, Week 7

Jackson Moore (Pacific Lutheran)
– Northwest Conference All-Conference First Team
– INW Soccer News Best XI, Weeks 4, 6 & 12
– INW Soccer News Player of the Week, Weeks 6 & 12

Claire Neder (Seattle Pacific)
– United Soccer Coaches DII All-Region, West Third Team
– GNAC All-Conference Honorable Mention

Michaela Prothe (Concordia)
– GNAC All-Conference Honorable Mention

Rylee Rassier (Northwest)
– Cascade Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Year
– CCC All-Conference First Team
– CCC Offensive Player of the Week 10.07
– INW Soccer News Best XI, Weeks 5, 7 & 8
– INW Soccer News Player of the Week, Week 7

Chase Reidt (Whitworth)
– Northwest Conference All-Conference Second Team
– INW Soccer News Best XI, Week 5

Frankie Schade (CC Spokane)
– NWAC All-Region

Olivia Sloan (Central Washington)
– GNAC All-Conference Honorable Mention

Kylie Somerday (CC Spokane)
– NWAC All-Star

Kelsey Turnbow (Santa Clara)
– United Soccer Coaches All-Region, West First Team
– WCC All-Conference First Team
– WCC Player of the Week 10.28
– INW Soccer News Best XI, Weeks 3, 6, 8, 10 & 12
– INW Soccer News Player of the Week, Weeks 3 & 10

Camryn Wendlandt (Baylor)
– INW Soccer News Best XI, Weeks 1 & 2

Drew Williams (Whitworth)
– INW Soccer News Best XI, Week 12

Congrats to everyone on this list and beyond as this may have been one of the best collegiate seasons for club alumni! Major apologies if we somehow missed anyone – please drop us a note so we can add it onto the list.

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