FRISCO, Texas – Taking home the Player of the Year, Forward of the Year, Newcomer of the Year, Coach of the Year, and seven additional All-Southland Conference awards, Lamar University's women's soccer team was rewarded well for winning its second SLC Regular Season championship in three years.
 
Lucy Ashworth was named the SLC Player of the Year and Forward of the Year, Esther Okoronkwo was dubbed the SLC Newcomer of the Year, and Steve Holeman earned his second Coach of the Year honor. In addition, Ashworth, Okoronkwo, Juana Plata, and Anna Loftus took First Team All-SLC honors, Sophia Manibo and Kaisa Juvonen were named Second Team All-SLC, and Madison Ledet was picked to the Third Team All-SLC.
 
Ashworth led the league in points with 47, scoring 17 goals and assisting on another 13. The junior from Manchester, England, led the conference in assists and was second in the country behind Catarina Macario at Stanford. She was second in the SLC and third in the country in total goals, trailing teammate Okoronkwo (19) and Macario (23). Those 13 assists were the second-most by any SLC student-athlete in the history of the conference and the most by any Cardinal. Ashworth also set a program record for most goals scored in a game (four) and most points in a game (nine) with her four goal and one assist performance against Nicholls on Sept. 21. Ashworth now sits atop the school's all-time points leaderboard with 81, leads in career goals scored with 37, and is tops in assists with 27. Ashworth was also a three-time SLC Offensive Player of the Week.
 
Okoronkwo was named Newcomer of the Year after having to redshirt in the 2018 season following an injury. The junior from Richmond, Texas, rebounded nicely with 19 goals, leading the league and trailing only Stanford's Macario nationally. That's a new program record, smashing the previous single-season record of 12 goals. Okoronkwo's 16 goals in conference play gave her an average of nearly 1.5 goals a match, and she was also the league's leader in game-winning goals (six). She was a two-time SLC Offensive Player of the Week.
 
Coach Holeman was named the SLC Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons after capturing his second SLC regular season award in that span. The Cards were 1-1 in SLC play and 4-6 overall before a phenomenal nine-game winning streak gave the Cardinals the outright league title. Big Red outscored its opponents 34-13 during that streak, which is still active.
 
Plata started all 11 games in SLC competition and played 900 minutes. She has three assists in SLC play and has taken seven shots, four of which have been on-goal.
 
Loftus ranked seventh in SLC play in total goals (6) and seventh in total points (15) with three assists against SLC opponents. She's started all 11 of Big Red's SLC games this year and has played 907 minutes. Her 24 shots attempted are third on the team, and her 12 shots on-goal are tied for the third-most on the team.
 
Manibo has been a critical portion of the LU defense, earning the SLC Defensive Player of the Week award on Oct. 7. She's started all 11 SLC matches this year and has played 979 minutes of those games, the second-most on the team. She has one goal with eight shot attempts, four of which were on-goal. She has also recorded 1 assist.
 
As a freshman Juvonen has started in 10 SLC matches she's played in and has played 892 minutes, averaging about 90 minutes a game. She has two and one assist in league play and 16 shot attempts with five on-goal.
 
Tied for third in the SLC in total assists (5), Madison Ledet has figured well into Lamar's offensive attack this season. She has started all 11 LU matches and has played 911 minutes of those games. She has three goals and five assists against SLC players, totaling 11 points, and she's shooting .579 on-goal.
 
The Cards' individual superlative winners and all-conference selections will be honored before their first game at the 2019 Southland Conference Soccer Tournament in Conway, Ark. Lamar will be facing eighth-seeded Stephen F. Austin, whom the Cards defeated 4-1 at home, on Nov. 6 at 5 p.m.
 
Player of the Year:  Lucy Ashworth, Lamar
Freshman of the Year: Natalie Jones, Abilene Christian
Newcomer of the Year: Esther Okoronkwo, Lamar
Defender of the Year: Nicole Henry, Northwestern State
Midfielder of the Year: Shay Johnson, Abilene Christian
Forward of the Year:  Lucy Ashworth, Lamar
Goalkeeper of the Year: Kyleigh Hall, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Coach of the Year: Steve Holeman, Lamar
 
2019 Southland Conference Soccer All-Conference Teams
 
First Team

Pos.	Name	School	Class	Hometown
D	Nicole Henry	Northwestern State	So.	Tomball, Texas
D	Michelle Mulrooney2	Abilene Christian	Sr.	Lodi, Calif.
D	Juana Plata	Lamar	So.	Houston Texas
D	Ana Campa	UIW	Sr.	San Antonio, Texas
MF	Shay Johnson2	Abilene Christian	Sr.	Coppell, Texas
MF	Anna Loftus	Lamar	So.	Milton Keynes, England
MF	Abby Deakin	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	Jr.	Broomfield, Colo.
MF	Natalie Jones	Abilene Christian	Fr.	Lubbock, Texas
F	Lucy Ashworth	Lamar	Jr.	Wigan, England
F	Esther Okoronkwo	Lamar	R-Jr.	Richmond, Texas
F	Christina Arteaga3	Abilene Christian	Jr.	Pflugerville, Texas
F	Katelyn Termini	Stephen F. Austin	Jr.	Frisco, Texas
GK	Kyleigh Hall	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	Jr.	Mansfield, Texas

 
Second Team

Pos.	Name	School	Class	Hometown
D	Natalee Henry	Northwestern State	So.	Tomball, Texas
D	Sophia Manibo	Lamar	Jr.	Beaumont, Texas
D	Alana Mangan	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	Fr.	Bedford, Texas
D	Keely Morrow	McNeese	Jr.	Nevada, Texas
MF	Olivia Mattson	Northwestern State	Fr.	Mariehamn, Finland
MF	Sophia Fondren2	Stephen F. Austin	Jr.	Frisco, Texas
MF	Rachel Palet2	McNeese	Sr.	Plano, Texas
MF	Kaisa Juvonen	Lamar	Fr.	Tampere, Finland
F	Keeley Ayala	UIW	So.	Wichita Falls, Texas
F	Caylen Wright	Abilene Christian	Fr.	Joshua, Texas
F	Emma Hawkins	Central Arkansas	Fr.	Forney, Texas
F	Brooke Hanson	UIW	Sr.	New Braunfels, Texas
GK	Madeline Talbot	Stephen F. Austin	R-So.	Shreveport, La.

 
Third Team

Pos.	Name	School	Class	Hometown
D	Shayla Spearman	Texas A&M-Corpus Christi	Sr.	Wichita Falls, Texas
D	Alyssia Anuat	Abilene Christian	So.	San Diego, Calif.
D	Brooke Lenz	Abilene Christian	Sr.	Spring, Texas
D	Hallie Field	Northwestern State	Fr.	Frisco, Texas
MF	Hannah Walsh	UIW	Fr.	Preston, England
MF	Isabelle Beletic	UIW	Jr.	Corpus Christi, Texas
MF	Kalynn Bickford	Sam Houston State	Fr.	Mansfield, Texas
MF	Brianna Woodall	Sam Houston State	R-Jr.	Kingwood, Texas
F	Madison Ledet	Lamar	Jr.	Nederland, Texas
F	Havana Johnson2	McNeese	Jr.	Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
F	Sammi Mayock	Sam Houston State	Jr.	Round Rock, Texas
F	Jalen Donaldson	Northwestern State	So.	Richmond, British Columbia
GK	Rachel Johnson2	Abilene Christian	R-Sr.	Coppell, Texas

2 – Two-time all-conference selection
3 – Three-time all-conference selection
 
The Southland Conference Soccer All-Conference Teams are nominated and voted upon by the league's head coaches and SIDs. Each team consists of four defenders, four midfielders, four forwards and a goalkeeper.