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UNITED SOCCER COACHES - Three Grand Valley St Lakers and one Ashland Eagle represent the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) on the 2019 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer All-America Team Wednesday (Dec. 10) as announced by the United Soccer Coaches Association.
Grand Valley State's Cecilia Steinwascher, Riko Sagara, and Ava Cook were selected as a First Team selection to clinch their second career All-America honor, while Ashland defender Sydney O'donell was selected Third Team and named All-American for the first time in her career.
Cook leads the nation in both goals (28) and points (67) entering the final weekend of the 2019 season. Her post-season numbers are eye-popping with eight goals and eight assists in seven matches thus far, capped off by a hat-trick in the Lakers' 5-2 win over Minnesota State in the national quarterfinals. She currently ranks fifth in GVSU annals in career goals, just two behind Ashley Botts and is also sixth in career points, just six off of a top-5 spot, with a full senior season left to play.
Sagara leads the nation in assists (23) for the second season in a row while also ranking second in points (61) behind only Cook. She is one dime away from matching the GVSU all-time single season record set by Marti Corby. She also ranks second in Laker history in career assists (46) despite having played just two seasons after transferring from NAIA Martin Methodist. Her 2019 All-America status makes her four-for-four in All-America accolades for her outstanding collegiate career, which she is looking to cap off with a National Championship this weekend.
Steinwascher is the top center back and leader of one of the best defenses in the country. The Lakers lead Division II with 18 shutouts while holding the second-best goals-against average in the nation (0.33) entering the Final Four. The defense pitched 13 shutouts in a row to close out the regular season, finishing two matches shy of the national record, and made history when they went the entire nine-match GLIAC conference schedule without allowing a goal; the first time in 25 years of GLIAC women's soccer a team has accomplished the feat. She's also contributed five assists on the offensive end for good measure.
For Ashland, Wright is a two-time all-region performer, being named to the United Soccer Coaches first team in her final two seasons. She was also picked to the All-GLIAC team three times. The Hilliard, Ohio native helped the Eagles to five clean sheets when she was in the lineup as they allowed one or no goals in 14 of her 17 games. As a squad, the Eagles had a 0.98 goals against average on the season.
