FRICSO, Texas – The Southland Conference announced the 2020-21 Soccer Preseason All-Conference Teams on Wednesday morning, the Lamar University women's soccer program placed a conference-best five student-athletes on the teams.
"It is nice to have several of our players recognized on the preseason team," said head coach Steve Holeman. "I am sure this will motivate them to show they deserve to be there."
Lamar placed a league-best five student-athletes on the preseason teams followed by Abilene Christian, UIW and Northwestern State at four each. Texas A&M - Corpus Christi placed three while McNeese and Stephen F. Austin had two honored. Central Arkansas and Sam Houston both placed one each to round out a total of 26 Southland student-athletes honored.
The Cardinals saw redshirt senior Esther Okoronkwo, junior Juana Plata, senior Sophia Manibo and sophomore Kaisa Juvonen earn preseason first team honors while senior Madison Ledet was named to the preseason second team.
The Richmond, Texas native, Okoronkwo led the Cardinals in scoring last season as she tallied 60 points with 25 goals and 10 assists. The 10 assists were the second-most on the team. She tallied 16 goals and six assists in SLC action. She appeared and started all 23 games for the Cards during the 2019 season.
Earning First Team All-SLC honors last season, Plata has earned a spot on the 2020 preseason first team after she started and appeared in all 23 matches for the Cardinals. She tallied 1811 minutes played, which is fifth best on the team.
Manibo started in all 23 games for Lamar in 2019 recording 2005 minutes, which was most on the team. Earning second team honors a season ago, the Beaumont, Texas native finished the 2019 season with four goals and one assist. She tallied 16 shots on the year from defender position with nine on goal.
Breaking out in her first year in Beaumont, Juvonen was named to the second team All-SLC a season ago after appearing in 22 games and recorded 1824 minutes of playing times. The Tampere, Finland native scored three goals on the season with two assists to finish with eight points in 2019.
Ledet earned third team honors a season ago and started 19 matches for the Cardinals. The Nederland, Texas native tallied 1581 minutes of action in 2019 while recording 15 points on the season, where she finished fourth on the team. She notched four goals and seven assists for the Big Red last season.
Returning players from the 2019 All-Conference First and Second teams are automatically named to the 2020 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.
First Team
|
Pos.
|
Name
|
School
|
Class
|
Hometown
|
|
D
|
Nicole Henry*
|
Northwestern State
|
Jr.
|
Tomball, Texas
|
|
D
|
Juana Plata*
|
Lamar
|
Jr.
|
Houston, Texas
|
|
D
|
Natalee Henry*
|
Northwestern State
|
Jr.
|
Tomball, Texas
|
|
D
|
Sophia Manibo*
|
Lamar
|
Sr.
|
Beaumont, 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
|
Esther Okoronkwo*
|
Lamar
|
R-Sr.
|
Richmond, Texas
|
|
F
|
Christina Arteaga*
|
Abilene Christian
|
Sr.
|
Pflugerville, Texas
|
|
F
|
Katelyn Termini*
|
Stephen F. Austin
|
Sr.
|
Frisco, Texas
|
|
F
|
Keeley Ayala*
|
UIW
|
Jr.
|
Wichita Falls, Texas
|
|
GK
|
Kyleigh Hall*
|
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
|
Sr.
|
Mansfield, Texas
|
Second Team
|
Pos.
|
Name
|
School
|
Class
|
Hometown
|
|
D
|
Alana Morgan*
|
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
|
So.
|
Bedford, Texas
|
|
D
|
Keely Morrow*
|
McNeese
|
Sr.
|
Nevada, Texas
|
|
D
|
Alyssia Anuat*
|
Abilene Christian
|
Jr.
|
San Diego, Calif.
|
|
D
|
Hallie Field*
|
Northwestern State
|
So.
|
Frisco, Texas
|
|
MF
|
Isabelle Beletic*
|
UIW
|
Sr.
|
Corpus Christi, Texas
|
|
MF
|
Kalynn Nickford*
|
Sam Houston
|
So.
|
Mansfield, Texas
|
|
MF
|
Emma Hawkins*
|
Central Arkansas
|
So.
|
Forney, Texas
|
|
MF
|
Jade Piper
|
UIW
|
Sr.
|
Corpus Christi, Texas
|
|
F
|
Caylen Wright*
|
Abilene Christian
|
So.
|
Tomball, Texas
|
|
F
|
Madison Ledet*
|
Lamar
|
Sr.
|
Nederland, Texas
|
|
F
|
Havana Johnson*
|
McNeese
|
Sr.
|
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
|
|
F
|
Jalen Donaldson*
|
Northwestern State
|
Jr.
|
Richmond, British Columbia
|
|
GK
|
Madeline Talbot*
|
Stephen F. Austin
|
Jr.
|
Shreveport, La.
|
* Automatic selection – Returning 2019 all-conference member
The Cardinals' hybrid 2020 season gets underway on Friday, February 12 when they play host to Southeastern Louisiana at the LU Soccer Complex. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. CT.
