November 11, 2009
Spokane, WA – A total of five Saints were named to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer all-star team while head coach Rob Walker was named as the GNAC Coach-of-the-Year.
Walker and Seattle Pacific’s Chuck Sekyra tied in voting for the award. Walker’s team finished 12-7, posting their first winning season in their short three year history. The Saints were 8-4 in the GNAC winning their final five games of the season.
Forward Jill Webb and midfielder Kayci Donatelli earned first-team honors. Webb was second in the conference in points (28), goals (11) and shots (79). She led the team in all three categories along with assists (6) and shots on goal (50).
“Jill’s second year in the conference was pretty challenging as her work in the first year was well remembered and she was a “marked woman” in every match we played,” said Walker. “Nonetheless, she did a great job continuing to score goals and provide for others all year long.”
Donatelli was second on the team in points (15), goals (6), assists (3) and shots on goal (25). She had two goals for the Saints in their final game of the season to lift them to a 3-2 overtime victory against Central Washington.
“Kayci had a great year and provided us with a high degree of skill, work rate and tactical awareness in the middle of midfield. She was great in attack, but really worked on her defending and ball winning in the off-season and that paid dividends for us all year long,” said Walker. “Kayci brings a high degree of both physical presence and skillful play to our team and was critical to our success down the stretch.”
Cayla Dixon was the lone Saints selected to the second-team while Ashley Engel and Jenny Baker earned honorable mention.
“As a central defender, Cayla brings “the fight” to our team through her tenacious play. She’s shown over her three years in the conference that she can be a ball winning center back day in and day out. No matter how our team played on a given day, Cayla came to work and win the battle in the trenches,” said Walker.
“Ashley had a great season making some critical saves for us on crossing and long ball situations. She managed our defense and amongst all of our players is quite frankly one of the most committed players I have coached in over 30 years,” said Walker. “She’s one tough player mentally and physically and a great tool for us.”
“Jenny is a very gifted player who plays with a tremendous work rate and is an excellent passer of the ball. Jenny’s competitiveness and ambition to assert herself was critical in several games where she “willed” herself to be a part of goal scoring combinations,” said Walker.