TAMPA, Fla. – Players from NAIA No. 1-ranked Keiser and No. 4 Southeastern earned 10 of the 11 first-team spots on The Sun Conference 2019 Women’s Soccer All-Conference team. The honorees – first-team, second-team, honorable mention, Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Coach of the Year and Champion of Character – were announced on Wednesday, just three days prior to the start of the 2019 TSC Championship Tournament which begins on Saturday with a pair of quarterfinal-round games.
The selections were made in a vote of the 11 conference coaches.
Johnson & Wales junior forward Savannah Jackson (Winter Haven, Fla.) was chosen as the Sun’s Player of the Year. A five-time Sun Offensive Player of the Week in 2019 (in 11 total weeks), Jackson led the conference and stands second in the NAIA with 41 goals scored, an average of 2.6 per game. She also led the league and the NAIA with 10 game-winning goals. Her 86 total points top The Sun Conference as well. This marks Jackson’s third straight selection to the Sun’s first team. She was an NAIA All-America Honorable Mention pick as a sophomore in 2018 and was named The Sun Conference Freshman of the Year in 2017.
Keiser freshman defender Maja Henriksson (Gothenburg, Sweden) was selected as the Sun’s Freshman of the Year. Henriksson started all 18 games for the top-ranked Seahawks and played 1201 minutes, the third-highest mark on her team. She scored three goals from her defender position and added a team- and conference-high 17 assists. She helped spark Keiser’s defense to 13 shutouts in 18 matches as the Seahawks allowed only seven goals thus far on the season. She is a two-time Sun Defensive Player of the Week choice this season as well.
Johnson & Wales head coach Eric Dobrzanski has been selected The Sun Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Wildcats (11-4-1, 6-3-1) to a tie for a third-place finish behind only No. 1 Keiser and No. 4 Southeastern. The 10-year JWU head coach wins the Sun’s Coach of the Year honor for the third time (2011 and 2014).
Ave Maria sophomore defender Clare Lauderback (Lovettsville, Va.) has been chosen as The Sun Conference Champion of Character award winner for women’s soccer. Lauderback went on a mission trip to Kolkata, India to serve the poorest of the poor of that city during the summer of 2019. She worked with orphans in Shishu Bivan, as well as Nrimal Hriday which is the Home for the Dying. She worked with Mother Teresa's order, the Missionaries of Charity. She is now working in the Mother Teresa Museum on the Ave Maria campus – the only museum like that in the United States – and helps others at AMU go on mission trips.
The Sun Conference All-Conference teams:
First team
F Savannah Jackson, Johnson & Wales (Jr.)
F Uchenna Kanu, Southeastern (Sr.)
F Matilda Ovenberger, Keiser (So.)
MF Bania Duran, Southeastern (Sr.)
MF Aisha Solorzano, Southeastern (Jr.)
MF Emma Holmskov, Keiser (Jr.)
MF Kyoka Koshijma, Keiser (So.)
D Maja Henriksson, Keiser (Fr.)
D Isamar Duran, Southeastern (Gr.)
D Ronja Henriksson, Keiser (Fr.)
GK Nina Haeberlin, Keiser (Sr.)
Second team
F Maddie Manzke, Warner (Fr.)
F Anna Gignilliat, USC Beaufort (Sr.)
F Sam Manelis, SCAD (Jr.)
MF Filippa Millqvist, Keiser (Sr.)
MF Sawyer Hall, Johnson & Wales (Sr.)
MF Andrea Manzur, St. Thomas (Jr.)
MF Jana Pastorek, Thomas (Fr.)
D Ashlyn Hannus, Johnson & Wales (Jr.)
D Noel Thompson, SCAD (Fr.)
D Leonie Weide, St. Thomas (Jr.)
GK Holly Eddins, Southeastern (So.)
Honorable Mention
MF Helena Godmann, SCAD (So.)
MF Madeline Berghult, Keiser (Jr.)
MF Cristina Clements, Warner (Sr.)
MF Caroline Jensen, Keiser (Fr.)
MF Madison Lambert, SCAD (Jr.)
D Whitney Clark, St. Thomas (Sr.)
D Josefine Troneby, Keiser (Jr.)
D Gabriela Labrador, Southeastern (So.)
F Katharina Jüllich, St. Thomas (So.)
F Emily Linscer, Thomas (So.)
MF Lexi Kaeser, USC Beaufort (Fr.)
First-team repeat honorees from 2018 include Savannah Jackson, Uchenna Kanu, Matilda Ovenberger, Aisha Solorzano, Isamar Duran and Nina Haeberlin.