Nov. 2, 2015
San Diego, Calif. --- It's championship tournament week for Mountain West women's soccer, and San José State will pull into town for its match on Thursday with five all-conference players, the defensive player of the year and the conference's coach of the year. The individual awards and All-MW teams were selected by the league's 12 head coaches and officially announced on Monday.Senior keeper Zoe Makrigiannis is the MW Defensive Player of the Year and first-team all-conference along with Darlene Rodriguez and Dorthe Hoppius. Darriell Franklin garnered second-team all-conference recognition, while Rachel Docherty is an All-Mountain West honorable mention.Lauren Hanson is the Mountain West Coach of the Year. In her second year at the helm, she led the Spartans to a 10-win season, which included eight victories in Mountain West play."Our entire team and staff have put in a tremendous amount of hard work day in and day out this season to get to this point," Hanson added. "The team enjoys playing with and for each other, and this program. They have come together off the field, and the amount of heart and passion they play with really shows on the field. It's been a lot of fun to see everyone be rewarded for their efforts."
Makrigiannis' 0.51 goals against average was tops in the MW during conference play. She allowed five goals in 884:22 spanning 10 matches. The Surrey, B.C., Canada native also led the league with six shutouts. Her sixth came this past Friday on senior day in a 2-0 win over rival Fresno State. That performance earned her the MW Defensive Player of the Week award, also announced by the conference on Monday.Anchoring San José State's defense from the midfield position was Rodriguez. Her adjustment from an attacking to a holding mid charged the Spartans' defense at the outset of conference play, which went on to shutout the first four opponents on the road.Hoppius, a sophomore forward, caught fire down the stretch of MW play. The native of Dorsten, Germany scored in four consecutive matches which included game-winners against Air Force and New Mexico on the road. She also put Nevada away at home with a game-winner which punched SJSU's ticket to the MW Championship Tournament.Franklin scored five goals in conference play, four of which were game-winners. She ended Wyoming's 12-match home winning streak with her golden goal in overtime. She scored twice in the regular-season finale to beat Fresno State, and ultimately helped the Spartans inherit a first-round bye in the championship tournament.Docherty, a senior defender, was a main reason why SJSU outscored its conference foes 15-6 in 2015. She was part of a backline that held the offensive player of the year in Sarah Schweiss to just two shots in the Spartans' 2-0 win at Colorado College. The team captain also stifled Nevada's offense, allowing zero shots in a 2-0 Spartan victory."I am thrilled for Zoe, Darlene, Didi, Darriell and Rachel for being recognized by the coaches in our conference as an elite group of players," Hanson said. "They all have worked so hard, and they invested on improving daily. It's nice to see them be rewarded for this."The 2015 MW Women's Soccer Championship is set for Tuesday, Nov. 3, Thursday, Nov. 5 and Saturday, Nov. 7 at the SDSU Sports Deck on the campus of San Diego State University. All five matches of the six-team, single-elimination tournament will be broadcast live and free of charge on the Mountain West Network.
2015 All-Conference First Team
Brooke Heidemann, Sr., MF, Boise State
Sarah Schweiss, Sr., F, Colorado College
Madisyn Olguin, Sr., F, New Mexico
Stacie Morgan, So., D, San Diego State
Milan Moses, Fr., MF, San Diego State
Leah Pruitt, Fr., F, San Diego State
Dorthe Hoppius, So., F, San José State
Zoe Makrigiannis, Sr., GK, San José State
Darlene Rodriguez, Sr., MF, San José State
Jessica Brooksby, Jr., F, Utah State
Shaina Ashouri, So., F, Wyoming
2015 All-Conference Second Team
Angela Karamanos, So., MF, Air Force
Ally Swift, Sr., F, Air Force
Hailey DeVries, Jr., D, Boise State
Myria Delgadilla, So., F, Fresno State
Maria Gomez, So., MF, Fresno State
Maddie Irwin, Jr., MF, New Mexico
Cassie Ulrich, Sr., GK, New Mexico
Victoria Barba, Jr., MF, San Diego State
Angela Mitchell, So., F, San Diego State
Melanie Vaughn, Sr., GK, San Diego State
Darriell Franklin, Fr., F, San José State
Denali Murnan, Sr., MF, UNLV
2015 All-Conference Honorable Mention
Baylee Blaser, Jr., F, Boise State
Alexis Long, Sr., D, Colorado College
Lauren Milleit Fr., MF, Colorado College
Daisha Jones-Oglesby, Sr., F, Nevada
Emily Chavez, So., D, New Mexico
Dylann O'Connor, So., D, New Mexico
Ashley Hauke, Sr., D, San Diego State
Jennifer Rupey, Jr., D, San Diego State
Aliyah Utush, So., F, San Diego State
Rachel Docherty, Sr., D, San José State
Wesley Hamblin, So., MF, Utah State
Alisha Bass, So., D, Wyoming
Cassidy Entsminger, Fr., GK, Wyoming
Offensive Player of the Year
Sarah Schweiss, Sr., F, Colorado College
Defensive Player of the Year
Zoe Makrigiannis, Sr., GK, San José State
Freshman of the Year
Leah Pruitt, Fr., F, San Diego State
Coach of the Year
Lauren Hanson, San José State