BYU-Hawaii dominates women's soccer honors - again

Aiono chosen Player of the Year; Ploeger repeats as Goalie of the Year

QUEEN CREEK, AZ - For the second straight year, the BYU-Hawaii women's soccer team captured the Pacific West Conference Championship.

For the second straight year, the Seasiders have dominated the post-season awards.

Sophomore netminder Becky Ploeger (Broomfield, CO/Standley Lake - photo) was chosen the 2008 PacWest Goalkeeper of the Year for the second consecutive season, while sophomore midfielder Natasha Aiono (South Jordan, UT/Bingham) was named the Player of the Year after the duo helped lead BYU-Hawaii to its second straight conference championship and its first berth in the NCAA Division II Playoffs.

Seasider head coach William Mahoni was named the PacWest Women's Soccer Coach of the Year. PacWest rules dictate that the head coach of the championship team is automatically designated the coach of the year.

Last season BYU-Hawaii's Jill Haar was picked as the player of the year and head coach Justin Wagar earned coach of the year accolades.

Notre Dame de Namur freshman forward Sarah Biser (Newark, CA/Newark) splashed onto the scene for the Argonauts and was chosen the 2008 PacWest Newcomer of the Year.

Biser led NDNU to a 7-5 PacWest mark and a 10-10 overall finish by racking up the second-most points (32) in the conference this year. She tied for the league lead in goals scored (14) and was second in goals per game (0.70). She finished the year with four assists and ranked third in the PacWest in points per game (1.60).

Mahoni guided the Seasiders to a 14-5-0 overall record and a 10-2 mark in the PacWest. His squad set school records for overall wins and conference victories.

Ploeger and Aiono each claimed All-PacWest First Team accolades in 2008 in addition to their respective player of the year awards.

Ploeger was a repeat First Team selection after leading the PacWest in shutouts per game (0.33) and goals against average (0.78). She ranked second in save percentage (.795) after halting 31 of 39 shots on goal in 928:24 of action.

Aiono, who was Honorable Mention in 2007, finished the year with 17 points on six goals and five assists, but it was her dominance in the middle of the field that helped jumpstart the BYU-Hawaii transition game while thwarting the opposition's attack.

Sophomore defender Stefanie Wright (Vista, CA/Rancho Buena Vista) and freshman defender Kami Strait (Colorado Springs, CO/Rampart) were named First Team and Second Team, respectively, while sophomore forward Sarah Welty (Antelope, CA/Center), the 2007 Co-Newcomer of the Year, repeated as a Second Team selection. Freshman middie Natalie Cude (Sandy, UT/Alta) and rookie forward Margaret Sekona (Juneau, AK/Juneau Douglas) were chosen Honorable Mention.

Sophomore forward Emily Mearns (San Ramon, CA/California - photo) returned to the Seasiders this year after missing 2007 and claimed All-PacWest First Team honors. She collected the same award in 2006 when she also was the Freshman of the Year.

Mearns topped the PacWest in assists (9), assists per game (0.50) and ranked fifth in both points (25) and points per game (1.39). She finished the year with eight goals, ranking seventh in both total goals and goals per game (0.44).

In addition to the Newcomer of the Year honor, Biser was chosen All-PacWest Second Team. She was joined by teammate Traci Cicerchi (Beaverton, OR/Beaverton), a senior defender who made the All-PacWest First Team.

NDNU junior middie Sally Olsson (Hillsboro, OR/Century) repeated as Honorable Mention and senior Heather Toohey (Anaheim, CA/Canyon) earned her first Honorable Mention award.

Olsson tied for third in the PacWest with four game-winning goals.

For the second straight year, Dixie State finished in second place behind BYU-Hawaii with a 9-3 league mark and a 13-6-1 overall record.

Junior middie Mikala Wilkes (Cedar Hills, UT/Lone Peak - photo) was the chief culprit again after ranking third in the PacWest in points (31), second in points per game (1.63), fourth in goals (12) and fourth in goals per game (0.63). She also ranked second in total assists (7) and in assists per contest (0.37), while her four-game-winning goals tied for third in the conference. Her 63 shots led all PacWest women's soccer players.

For her efforts, Wilkes was named All-PacWest First Team for the second straight season, joining junior defender Carly Haycock (Bountiful, UT/Bountiful) who made the leap to First Team after being named to the Second Team last year.

Dixie State junior defender Jessica Nelson-Mortensen (Orem, UT/Timpanogas) also repeated on the All-PacWest Team, this time claiming Second Team accolades after being named First Team last season. Junior middie Robyn Wall (Bountiful, UT/Bountiful) also earned Second Team honors.

Dixie State's Honorable Mention players included sophomore midfielder Erin Beeston (Edmond, OK/Edmond) and sophomore forward Wendy Stratford (Layton, UT/Layton).

Stratford earned back-to-back Player of the Week honors in mid-October and finished tied for seventh in the PacWest in scoring with 20 points. She tied for fifth in goals scored (9) and goals per game (0.45), and ranked eighth in the league in points per game (1.00).

Beeston tied for eighth in the PacWest in assists (4) and tied for 10th in assists per game (0.20).

Grand Canyon junior defender Tessa Chesser (Phoenix, AZ/Shadow Mountain) earned her third All-PacWest honor in 2008. She was a Second Team member in 2006, jumped to the First Team in 2007, and then repeated as a First Team selection this year.

Junior defender Jessica Schartz (Phoenix, AZ/Paradise Valley) was named All-PacWest Second Team, while junior forward Kaylen Jackson (Tucson, AZ/Amphitheater) and senior goalkeeper Shela Robertson (Blaine, WA/Blaine) were named Honorable Mention.

Jackson tied for ninth in the PacWest in scoring with 17 points, averaging 0.94 points per game to also share the ninth spot. She was tied for ninth in goals (7) and tied for 10th in goals per game (0.39).

Robertson, who was a 2006 Honorable Mention, ranked third in total saves (86), third in saves per game (4.78), fourth in goals against average (1.75), third in save percentage (.735), first in minutes played (1595:00), first in shutouts (5) and second in shutouts per game (0.28).

Hawai‘i Hilo posted six new players on the All-PacWest squad, including junior goalkeeper Randi Walters (Oxnard, CA/Oxnard) who made the Second Team. She had three shutouts this year and was joined on the squad by senior forward Adele Letro (Davis, CA/Davis) and junior forward Megan Pachecano (Pahoa, HI/Woodland - photo).

Letro topped the PacWest in scoring with 33 points on 14 goals and five assists. She ranked first in points per game (1.83), tied Pachecano for top honors in total goals scored (14), and led the league in goals per game (0.78).

Her five assists tied her for fourth in the PacWest, while her 0.28 assists per game also tied her for fourth in the conference. She scored six game-winning goals to lead the PacWest.

Pachecano tied for second in goals per game (0.70), tied for third in total points (31), and ranked fourth in points per game (1.55).

Freshman forward Alysia Salvador (Escondido, CA/Orange Glen) and sophomore forward Jessica Snell (Arroyo Grande, CA/Nipomo) were chosen as Honorable Mention. Salvador finished the year with seven goals, ranking 10th in goals per game (0.39) and ninth in goals scored (7).

The top player for Hawai‘i Hilo this season was junior defender Melissa Grant (Chico, CA/Pleasant Valley) who was named All-PacWest First Team for her outstanding season in the backfield.

Hawai‘i Pacific freshman defender/midfielder Caitlyn McNeely (Littleton, CO/Chatfield) earned All-PacWest First team honors for the Sea Warriors. She had five assists on the season, ranking fourth in total assists and fourth in assists per game (0.28).

Sophomore defender Ashley Dolan (Honolulu, HI/Moanalua), who earned Honorable Mention accolades last year, jumped to the Second Team in 2008, while junior middie Jamie Hirai (Captain Cook, HI/Konawaena) secured her third straight appearance on the All-PacWest squad with Honorable Mention accolades. She was a 2006 Honorable Mention and a member of the First Team in 2007.

Sophomore defender Chelsie Sato (Kaneohe, HI/McKinley) joined Hirai on the Honorable Mention list for HPU.

Chaminade senior defender Marisa Faye (Mililani, HI/Hawai‘i Prep Academy) repeated as a First Team selection for the Silverswords, while freshman forward Jamie Lindstrom (Woodinville, WA/Woodinville) earned Second Team accolades during her rookie campaign.

Junior goalie Marissa Minor (Kealakekua, HI/Konawaena), a Second Team selection in 2008, was one of two Honorable Mention choices for Chaminade.

Minor led the PacWest again in saves with 167 over 16 games. She stopped a league-high 10.44 per game and had a .717 save percentage.

Selections for the 2008 All-PacWest Women's Soccer Team were made by each team's head coach. Each team was allocated all-conference first team, second team and honorable mention selections based upon its finished.

The coaches voted for Goalkeeper, Newcomer and Player of the Year, as well as the All-PacWest goalies.