Horizon League Announces 2019 #HLWSOC Awards
INDIANAPOLIS – Northern Kentucky senior forward Shawna Zaken has been named the Horizon League Women’s Soccer Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year, while Milwaukee’s McKaela Schmelzer earned Defensive Player of the Year honors as voted upon by the League’s 10 head coaches. In addition, Lena Kurz of UIC earned Goalkeeper of the Year and Maya Lacognato of IUPUI was named Freshman of the Year. Coach of the Year went to both Milwaukee’s Troy Fabiano and UIC’s Tom Anagnost.
Shawna Zaken helped the Norse earn their No. 5 position by being the Horizon League leader in points. She has 25 points, with 11 goals and three assists so far this season.
Senior defender McKaela Schmelzer has been a strong presence on the Panthers’ backline this season, helping them to earn the overall No. 1 seed in the League this season. She is tied for fourth this season in assists with five this season.
Goalkeeper Lena Kurz leads the Horizon League in shutouts with nine this season. She also boasts a Save Percentage of .873 and a Goals Against Average of .543 for the Flames.
IUPUI freshman forward Maya Lacognato had a pair of overtime game-winners this season, tallying winners against Toledo (Aug. 22) in her collegiate debut and against Cleveland State (Oct. 19). She had her first career multi-goal game in the Jaguars’ 3-0 win at Detroit Mercy (Oct. 6). She is tied for sixth this season in goals.
For the fifth-straight season Troy Fabiano of Milwaukee was voted the League’s Coach of the Year after leading the Panthers to their 19th regular season title in the last 20 years. Newcomer Tom Anagnost also captures a share of this season’s Coach of the Year after the Flames finished the regular season No. 2 from the
The Horizon League Women’s Soccer Championship kicks off on Monday, Nov. 4, with two quarterfinal contests. No. 3 IUPUI hosts No. 6 Oakland, while No. 4 Wright State welcomes No. 5 Northern Kentucky. Both matches will kick off at 7 p.m. ET.
On Thursday, Nov. 7, the tournament will move to Engelmann Stadium on the campus of Milwaukee for the semifinals and championship matches. The first semifinal will see No. 2 UIC square off against the highest remaining seed at 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT, with No. 1 Milwaukee taking on the lowest remaining seed at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT. The championship contest will commence at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT on Saturday, Nov. 9.
Every match of the 2019 Horizon League Women’s Soccer Championship will be streamed live on ESPN+ and fans can also follow all the action on social media by following the hashtag #HLWSOC and @HorizonLeague.
For complete championship information go to the #HLWSOC Championship Central page,
here.
2019 Horizon League Women’s Soccer Award Winners
Player of the Year: Shawna Zaken, Northern Kentucky
Offensive Player of the Year: Shawna Zaken, Northern Kentucky
Defensive Player of the Year: McKaela Schmelzer, Milwaukee
Goalkeeper of the Year: Lena Kurz, UIC
Freshman of the Year: Maya Lacognato, IUPUI
Coach of the Year: Troy Fabiano, Milwaukee and Tom Anagnost, UIC
All-Horizon League First Team
Valentine Pursey, IUPUI
Taylor Hattori, MKE
McKaela Schmelzer, MKE
Haley Johnson, MKE
Gaby Schwartz, MKE
Rachel Phillpotts, MKE
Shawna Zaken, NKU
Tamae Douglas, UIC
Jordyne Helinski, WSU
Destiny Johnson, WSU
GK: Lena Kurz, UIC
All-Horizon League Second Team
Elena Gutlove, CSU
Alyssa Barnes, GB
Maya Lacognato, IUPUI
Mackenzie Schill, MKE
Rafferty Kugler, MKE
Kendra Zak, OAK
Alexa Sabbagh, OAK
Emily Valentine, UIC
Emma Main, UIC
Marcella Sizer, YSU
GK: Sophia Lipka, IUPUI
Horizon League All-Freshman Team
Grace Krosky, CSU
Maya Lacognato, IUPUI
Autumn Week, IUPUI
Maggy Henschler, MKE
Megan Sullivan, NKU
Jessica Shears, OAK
Jackie Santibanez, UIC
Grace Haines, UIC
Michelle Rings, WSU
Marcella Sizer, YSU
GK: AP Woodall, IUPUI