Southland Announces Preseason All-Conference Soccer Teams
FRISCO, Texas – The Southland Conference announced its Soccer Preseason All-Conference Teams on Wednesday. Defending league regular season and tournament champion Lamar leads the way with five selections. The preseason all-conference teams are presented by
Hercules Tires.
Dominated by returning players, all but one member of the squads was voted upon in UIW’s Jade Piper as a second-team midfielder. Fifteen of the 26 honorees were freshmen or sophomores during the 2019 season.
Lamar placed four on the first team in Juana Plata, Sophia Manibo, Kaisa Juvonen and Esther Okoronkwo. Senior forward Madison Ledet rounded out LU’s selections as a forward on the second team.
Okoronkwo set or tied Southland single-season marks in goals (25), game-winning goals (8) and points (60), and set or tied conference tournament bests in single-game goals (4), single-game points (8) and total points in a tournament (13). The Richmond, Texas, native was named the 2019 SLC Newcomer of the Year and the SLC Tournament MVP.
Conference tournament finalist Northwestern State, Abilene Christian and UIW follow with four total selections and two first-team honorees apiece. NSU is represented by twin defenders Natalee and Nicole Henry, the reigning Southland Defender of the Year, and UIW’s Hannah Walsh and Keeley Ayala landed on the top squad.
ACU’s Natalie Jones earned a spot on the first team after being named the league’s Freshman of the Year, the fourth-straight bestowed upon a Wildcat. Christina Arteaga, the 2017 SLC Freshman of the Year and a three-time first-team all-conference selection, is on track to become only the seventh student-athlete in Southland history to sweep all four seasons on the all-conference first team.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi accounts for three honorees, including two first-team slots in midfielder Abby Deakin and goalie Kyleigh Hall, last year’s Southland Goalkeeper of the Year. Hall led the league with eight shutouts and garnered four Goalkeeper of the Week awards, including three-consecutive from Sept. 30-Oct. 14.
Stephen F. Austin and McNeese each have two preseason all-league picks, and Sam Houston State and Central Arkansas round out the teams with one honoree apiece.
The 2020 conference season gets underway for this spring on Feb. 12, but teams have opportunities to schedule non-conference competition beginning as early as Feb. 3. The 2020 Southland Conference Soccer Tournament will be played April 13-17 at a site to be determined.
Returning players from the 2019 All-Conference teams are automatically named to the this year’s Preseason All-Conference teams at their same positions. Second team players are elevated to first team if the first team slot is vacated by a non-returning player at their same position. Vacant positions are nominated and voted upon by the conference’s head coaches. Voting for one’s own player is not permitted.
2020 Southland Conference Preseason First Team
| Pos. |
Name |
School |
Class |
Hometown |
| D |
Nicole Henry* |
Northwestern State |
Jr. |
Tomball, Texas |
| D |
Natalee Henry* |
Northwestern State |
Jr. |
Tomball, Texas |
| D |
Sophia Manibo* |
Lamar |
Sr. |
Beaumont, Texas |
| D |
Juana Plata* |
Lamar |
Jr. |
Houston, Texas |
| MF |
Abby Deakin* |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
Sr. |
Broomfield, Colo. |
| MF |
Natalie Jones* |
Abilene Christian |
So. |
Lubbock, Texas |
| MF |
Kaisa Juvonen* |
Lamar |
So. |
Tampere, Finland |
| MF |
Hannah Walsh* |
UIW |
So. |
Preston, England |
| F |
Christina Arteaga* |
Abilene Christian |
Sr. |
Pflugerville, Texas |
| F |
Keeley Ayala* |
UIW |
Jr. |
Wichita Falls, Texas |
| F |
Esther Okoronkwo* |
Lamar |
R-Sr. |
Richmond, Texas |
| F |
Katelyn Termini* |
Stephen F. Austin |
Sr. |
Frisco, Texas |
| GK |
Kyleigh Hall* |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
Sr. |
Mansfield, Texas |
2020 Southland Conference Preseason Second Team
| Pos. |
Name |
School |
Class |
Hometown |
| D |
Alana Mangan* |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
So. |
Bedford, Texas |
| D |
Alyssia Anuat* |
Abilene Christian |
Jr. |
San Diego, Calif. |
| D |
Hallie Field* |
Northwestern State |
So. |
Frisco, Texas |
| D |
Keely Morrow* |
McNeese |
Sr. |
Nevada, Texas |
| MF |
Isabelle Beletic* |
UIW |
Sr. |
Corpus Christi, Texas |
| MF |
Kalynn Bickford* |
Sam Houston State |
So. |
Mansfield, Texas |
| MF |
Emma Hawkins* |
Central Arkansas |
So. |
Forney, Texas |
| MF |
Jade Piper |
UIW |
Sr. |
Corpus Christi, Texas |
| F |
Jalen Donaldson* |
Northwestern State |
Jr. |
Richmond, British Columbia |
| F |
Havana Johnson* |
McNeese |
Sr. |
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho |
| F |
Madison Ledet* |
Lamar |
Sr. |
Nederland, Texas |
| F |
Caylen Wright* |
Abilene Christian |
So. |
Joshua, Texas |
| GK |
Madeline Talbot* |
Stephen F. Austin |
R-Jr. |
Shreveport, La. |
* Automatic selection – Returning 2019 all-conference member