SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The 2023 Summit League individual women’s soccer awards were spread out among five teams as those honors along with the all-league and all-newcomer teams were announced Thursday by league officials.
Omaha’s Sophia Green was named the Offensive Player of the Year after leading the Mavericks to their fourth straight Summit League tournament berth and fifth overall appearance. The Allyn, Wash., native registered a league-leading nine goals and was tied for third with three goals in league play to become the first Maverick in program history to earn the offensive award. Overall, Green leads the league with 22 points and 50 total shots.
Green broke a program record on Sept. 17 in a 2-1 home victory over Oklahoma in which she scored the 20
th goal of her career. The senior forward stands alone as Omaha’s Division I era record holder for goals (23) and points (56) in a career. Her 23 career goals are currently tied for the 20
th most in league history.
Fellow Maverick Regan Zimmers was named the Defensive Player of the Year as she helped an Omaha defensive unit that held Summit League opposition to seven goals, which was tied for the fewest in league play. The Omaha, Neb., native guided a defense to four overall shutouts and tallied a pair of assists in league action. Zimmers became the first Maverick to claim the Defensive Player of the nod since Hannah Wampler did so in 2014.
After being named the 2021 Newcomer of the Year, Avery Murdzek of South Dakota State was named this year’s Midfielder of the Year after pacing the Jackrabbits’ active scoring with 15 points. She took over SDSU’s goal lead (6) following a brace against St. Thomas on Oct. 15. The Hudson, Wis., native sits first in league action with 28 shots and is tied for the league lead with 12 shots on goal.
North Dakota State’s Abby Wilkinson was tabbed as the Goalkeeper of the Year after logging a league-best .875 goals against average and .816 save percentage (minimum of five matches played in league play). She recorded six clean sheets on the season and finished her career with 11 overall shutouts, which is the sixth-most in program history. The Littleton, Colo., native closed out the season by helping snap a nine-match losing skid to Denver. Additionally, Wilkinson and the Bison snapped the Pioneers’ 57-match streak of being unbeaten in regulation in league play as she made five crucial saves.
For the regular season champion Pioneers, freshman midfielder Liv Moritz was named the Newcomer of the Year. The Vail, Colo., native started all eight Summit League matches for Denver and leads the team in shots on goal (9) in league action. Overall, Moritz finished the regular season tied for the second most points (18) and fourth most goals (7) in the league. Moritz was named to the Top Drawer Women’s Soccer Top 100 Freshman midseason team as she was ranked No. 34 last week.
Kansas City’s Jess Smith was named the Coach of the Year for the first time in her career. After being projected to finish ninth in the preseason coaches’ poll, the Roos earned the No. 6 seed and captured their first trip to the postseason tournament since 2011. This year’s squad finished the campaign with a 3-6-8 record and a 2-3-3 league mark. Smith became Kansas City’s second coach all-time to receive Summit League Coach of the Year accolades and the first to do so since Chris Cissell during the 2011 season.
Green and Zimmers were part of a League-tying best trio of Mavericks to earn All-League First Team honors. Those two were joined by midfielder Grace Ostergaard, who collected her fourth career all-league nod. The Denver trio made up of midfielders Kaityln Glover and Vanessa Murphy and defender Jordan Crockett, joined Omaha in earning three all-league first-team accolades. Glover’s first-team honor was her third straight and fifth overall all-league award. Crockett was a second-team honoree in 2022.
Kaycee Manding of South Dakota State earned her second straight first-team nod, while Murdzek collected her third career all-league accolade. Kansas City sophomore forward Brianna Castleberry, who led the Roos with four goals and nine points in league play, collected first-team honors. North Dakota forward Amelia Loeffler and Wilkinson, the Bison goalkeeper, rounded out the first team.
Denver led the way with three second-team selections, while North Dakota, Oral Roberts and South Dakota each had two. Omaha and South Dakota State received one second-team honoree. The Pioneer trio of forward Camryn MacMillan, defender Hannah Gallegos and midfielder Samantha Dreiling led the way for the second team. The North Dakota second-team duo included defender Mary Gasaway and goalkeeper Madi Livingston. Livingston earned an all-league nod for the second straight year after recording the most saves in league play with 48.
Oral Roberts defender Gabrielle Abbey collected her third all-league award, while teammate Samantha See earned her first career all-league honor. South Dakota was represented by forward Ashby Johnston and defender Taylor Ravelo, while Omaha’s Marissa Gohr and South Dakota State’s Laney Murdzek rounded out the second team.
The group of players earning honorable mention honors were highlighted by a quartet of Jackrabbits as forwards Katelyn Beulke and Jaden Carrillo, midfielder Reagan Anderson and defender Hayley Lindaman were recognized. Kansas City earned a pair of honorable mention nods in defenders Sophia Limongi and Sophia Smith. Denver defender Riley Baker, North Dakota forward Allison Rapaduski, Omaha defender Jordyn West, Oral Roberts midfielder Kristi Keller and St. Thomas goalkeeper Olivia Rowe rounded out those earning an honorable mention.
Beulke, Carrillo and Castleberry earned a spot on the all-newcomer team as well. The Denver trio of Dreiling, Moritz and goalkeeper Molly Wissman gave DU a league-high three members on the squad. Defender Jasmyn Brown and midfielder Alyssa Kellar provided the Mavericks with a pair on the all-newcomer team. Rounding out the all-newcomer team was North Dakota State defender Amaya Garrett, Oral Roberts midfielder Carty Kingsbury and South Dakota midfielder Brooke Conway.
The six-team, single-elimination tournament will feature two quarterfinal matches on Friday, Oct. 27, and two semifinal contests on Sunday, Oct. 29 with the championship game being played on Saturday, Nov. 4 at the highest remaining seed's home field.
In Friday's opening quarterfinal, No. 4 Omaha plays No. 5 South Dakota in Denver at 1 p.m. MT. The other quarterfinal will be played in Brookings between No. 3 Oral Roberts taking on No. 6 Kansas City at 4 p.m. CT. The winner of Friday's first match will take on top-seeded Denver at 1 p.m. MT on Sunday, Oct. 29 in the first of two semifinal matches. The other semifinal contest will pit No. 2 seed South Dakota State against the winner of Friday's No. 3 vs. No. 6 contest at 1 p.m. CT.
2023 Individual Awards (as selected by The Summit League head coaches)
Offensive Player of the Year
Sophia Green, Omaha
Midfielder of the Year
Avery Murdzek, South Dakota State
Defensive Player of the Year
Regan Zimmers, Omaha
Goalkeeper of the Year
Abby Wilkinson, North Dakota State
Newcomer of the Year
Liv Moritz, Denver
Coach of the Year
Jess Smith, Kansas City
2023 All-Summit League Women's Soccer Teams
First Team
Brianna Castleberry, Kansas City, F
Jordan Crockett, Denver, D
Kaitlyn Glover, Denver, MF
Sophia Green, Omaha, F
Amelia Loeffler, North Dakota, F
Kaycee Manding, South Dakota State, D
Avery Murdzek, South Dakota State, MF
Vanessa Murray, Denver, MF
Grace Ostergaard, Omaha, MF
Abby Wilkinson, North Dakota State, GK
Regan Zimmers, Omaha, D
Second Team
Gabrielle Abbey, Oral Roberts, D
Samantha Dreiling, Denver, MF
Hannah Gallegos, Denver, D
Mary Gasaway, North Dakota, D
Marissa Gohr, Omaha, MF
Ashby Johnston, South Dakota, F
Madi Livingston, North Dakota, GK
Camryn MacMillan, Denver, F
Laney Murdzek, South Dakota State, MF
Taylor Ravelo, South Dakota, D
Samantha See, Oral Roberts, F
Honorable Mention
Reagan Anderson, South Dakota State, MF
Riley Baker, Denver, D
Katelyn Beulke, South Dakota State, F
Jaden Carrillo, South Dakota State, F
Kristi Keller, Oral Roberts, MF
Sophia Limongi, Kansas City, D
Hayley Lindaman, South Dakota State, D
Allison Rapaduski, North Dakota, F
Olivia Rowe, St. Thomas, GK
Sophia Smith, Kansas City, D
Jordyn West, Omaha, D
All-Newcomer Team
Katelyn Beulke, South Dakota State, F
Jasmyn Brown, Omaha, D
Jadenn Carrillo, South Dakota State, F
Brianna Castleberry, Kansas City, F
Brooke Conway, South Dakota, MF
Samantha Dreiling, Denver, MF
Amaya Garrett, North Dakota State, D
Alyssa Kellar, Omaha, MF
Carty Kingsbury, Oral Roberts, MF
Liv Moritz, Denver, D
Molly Wissman, Denver, GK
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