Horizon League Reveals 2021 #HLWSOC Awards
INDIANAPOLIS – Senior forward Mackenzie Schill of Milwaukee was named the Horizon League Women’s Soccer Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year, while teammates Rachel Phillpotts earned Defensive Player of the Year and Elaina LaMacchia was awarded Goalkeeper of the Year announced the League announced its women's soccer All-League honors on Friday. The Panthers are led by Coach of the Year, Troy Fabiano. Northern Kentucky’s Lydia Self was tabbed Freshman of the Year as voted upon by the League’s 12 head coaches.
Schill has been a force for the Panthers this season, appearing in all 17 matches and leading the Horizon League in points (28) and goals (12). The senior forward has received two player of the week nods this season. Schill’s 12 total goals currently ranks as the 17
th most in the NCAA. Schill was a member of the All-Freshman team in 2017, a member of the All-League Second Team in 2019 and 2020, and earned All-Tournament Team honors in 2019.
Phillpotts has been instrumental on the pitch, helping the Panthers to eight clean sheets during League play as MKE allowed just four goals in 11 HL League matches, good for a 0.36 goals-against average. In addition, she accumulated five goals and three assists this season. The graduate student earned Nike #HLWSOC Player of the Week honors after scoring the eventual game-winner in the 67th minute against Green Bay to send Milwaukee to the regular-season title.
Junior goalkeeper Elaina LaMacchia leads the League in multiple categories including goals against average (.403), save percentage (.882) and shutouts (6) this season. Her goals-against average ranks second in the country, while her save percentage comes in at fourth. LaMacchia was the 2020 Horizon League All-Tournament Team MVP after stopping a Northern Kentucky penalty kick to earn Milwaukee the championship title.
Freshman Lydia Self is Northern Kentucky’s first ever Horizon League Freshman of the Year. Self has netted three game-winning goals this season which ties for third-most in the League. She earned two consecutive Nike #HLWSOC Defensive Player of the Week honors for the No. 3 seeded Norse this season.
Troy Fabiano has earned his sixth Coach of the Year honor in the Horizon League after leading the regular season champion Panthers to a No. 1 seed in the 2021 #HLWSOC championship with a perfect League record of 11-0 and an overall record of 16-1 this season. Last season, Milwaukee won its third consecutive Horizon League championship and 13th overall title.
Milwaukee’s Schill, Phillpotts, and LaMacchia highlight this season’s All-League First Team selections. The top-seeded Panthers also add defender Gaby Schwartz to the to the All-HL First Team. No. 2 seed Oakland had two seniors, Kendra Zak and Sami Lopez, tabbed with first team honors. Rounding out the team is Savanna Hayes of Green Bay, Liz Bueckers of IUPUI, Kaya Vogt of NKU, Morgan Reitano of Purdue Fort Wayne and Olga Massombo of Wright State.
The All-League Second Team is represented by two Oakland selections, Alexa Sabbagh and Karabo Dhlamini. IUPUI also had two nominees with junior defender Autumn Weeks and senior goalkeeper AP Woodall. Freshman of the Year Lydia Self received an all-second team nod for Northern Kentucky. Cleveland State’s Essence Canady, Green Bay’s McKayla Kertscher, Milwaukee’s Jelena Sever, RMU’s Karou Hayashi and Wright State’s Destiny Johnson round out the all-second team.
NKU’s Lydia Self headlines the All-Freshman Team with 10 institutions represented among the team. The Panthers had two selections with defender Clara Broecker and forward Kat Van Booven. Cleveland State goalkeeper Kyla Valaitis was tabbed to the All-Freshman Team, as well as Emily Sirois of Green Bay and Erica Leinweber of Detroit Mercy. Rounding out the All-Freshman Team was Oakland’s Sharon Sampson, Purdue Fort Wayne’s Isabella Reitano, RMU’s Emily Rocco, Wright State’s Olivia Mace and Maddie Angelo of Youngstown State.
The Horizon League Women’s Soccer Championship kicks off on Sunday, Oct. 31, with two quarterfinal contests. No. 3 Northern Kentucky hosts No. 6 Purdue Fort Wayne, while No. 4 Green Bay will welcome No. 5 Cleveland State. Both matches will kick off at 1 p.m. local time.
On Thursday, Nov. 4, 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 Oakland 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 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT. The championship contest will commence at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT on Saturday, Nov. 6.
Every match of the 2021 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.
2021 Horizon League Women’s Soccer Award Winners
Player of the Year: Mackenzie Schill, MKE
Offensive Player of the Year: Mackenzie Schill, MKE
Defensive Player of the Year: Rachel Phillpotts, MKE
Goalkeeper of the Year: Elaina LaMacchia, MKE
Freshman of the Year: Lydia Self, NKU
Coach of the Year: Troy Fabiano, MKE
All-League First Team
Savanna Hayes (CB), GB
Liz Bueckers (M/F), IUPUI
Gaby Schwartz (D), MKE
MacKenzie Schill (F), MKE
Rachel Phillpotts (DM), MKE
Kaya Vogt (M), NKU
Kendra Zak (D), OAK
Sami Lopez (F), OAK
Morgan Reitano (F), PFW
Olga Massombo (F), WSU
GK: Elaina LaMacchia (GK), MKE
All-League Second Team
Essence Canady (D), CSU
McKayla Kertscher (CM), GB
Autumn Weeks (CM), IUPUI
Jelena Sever (M), MKE
Lydia Self (D), NKU
Alexa Sabbagh (F), OAK
Karabo Dhlamini (M), OAK
Gabrielle Fanning (D), PFW
Kaoru Hayashi (M), RMU
Destiny Johnson (M), WSU
GK: AP Woodall (GK), IUPUI
Horizon League All-Freshman Team
Emily Sirois (LB), GB
Erica Leinweber (F), DET
Clara Broecker (D), MKE
Kat Van Booven (F), MKE
Lydia Self (D), NKU
Sharon Sampson (F), OAK
Isabella Reitano (M), PFW
Emily Rocco (MF), RMU
Olivia Mace (M), WSU
Maddie Angelo (D), YSU
GK: Kyla Valaitis (GK), CSU