All-AMCC Women's Soccer Team Announced; Mueller Named Defender of the Year
Seven members of the Penn State Behrend women's soccer team were selected to the All-Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Team, while head coach Patrick O'Driscoll was named Co-Coach of the Year and senior Rachel Mueller (Shaler, PA/Shaler) was chosen Defender of the Year, announced on Tuesday.
ERIE, Pa. – Seven members of the Penn State Behrend women's soccer team were selected to the All-Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Team, while head coach Patrick O'Driscoll was named Co-Coach of the Year and senior Rachel Mueller (Shaler, PA/Shaler) was chosen Defender of the Year, announced on Tuesday.
O'Driscoll earned his fourth Coach of the Year nod and Mueller was also named to the All-AMCC first team in addition to freshman Alex Bilka (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) and Sam Vasy (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin).
Mueller repeats on the first team after leading the defense eight shutouts and holding opponents to just 23 goals on the season.
Vasy, a three-time All-AMCC choice, completes her career with a spot the first team. She was named to the third team as a sophomore and second team her freshman year. Vasy ranked third on the team with nine goals and six assists for 24 points. She also ranked sixth in the AMCC in assists per game (0.32). Out of her nine goals this season, four were game winners.
Bilka appears on the first team in her inaugural season. Her 30 points led the team and her 13 goals ranked fourth in the conference. Bilka also dished out four assists and netted three game-winning goals, while going 2-for-2 on penalty kicks.
Junior Shelby Lloyd (Beaver, PA/Beaver), sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Troyan (Butler, PA/Butler), sophomore Abbie Schuster (Pittsburgh, PA/Upper St. Clair) and newcomer Sam Pace (Erie, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) captured second-team accolades.
Lloyd and Troyan made their way back on the All-Conference second-team list. Lloyd is just one of four players to start every game. She also scored three goals and had one assist from the midfield. Troyan has been the starting goalie the past two seasons. She tallied a 1.18 goals-against average, while only needing to make 62 saves behind the solid defense. Troyan earned one shutout, but aided in the team's eight overall.
Schuster and Pace round out the second-team honors for the Lions. Both started in nearly every game this year, while Pace tied Bilka for the team lead with 13 goals. Pace was recently named the AMCC Athlete of the Week for scoring the game winner in the championship game. Schuster, one of the four starting defenders, ranked second on the team with seven assists. She also tallied one goal and aided in the dominate defense this season.
Behrend won its third straight AMCC Championship and earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Lions will face Ithaca in first-round action on Saturday at 11 a.m. in Ithaca, NY.