BELLEVUE, Neb. - The Bellevue University women's soccer team followed up a terrific regular season by seeing five individuals recognized as Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference major awards winners as announced by the conference to kick off the awards season on Wednesday. The Bruins also had nine players named either First or Second Team All-Conference selections and seven players named MCAC Scholar-Athletes.
Bellevue (15-1-0/6-0-0 MCAC), proud owners of the MCAC regular season title and the No. 18 ranking in the latest NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll, has won 10 straight matches and have out-scored their opponents by a 47-6 margin during that time.
Senior Mercy Darkoah (Sheffield, England) was named MCAC Offensive Player of the Year while junior Kate Petersen (Springfield, Neb.) was honored as MCAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year. Darkoah has been the centerpiece of the Bellevue offense this season. Darkoah leads the team and ranks ninth nationally with 19 goals while her 44 points also lead the conference and rank 11th nationally. Darkoah was recognized as the MCAC Offensive Player of the Week two times this season, most recently on Oct. 27. Petersen wins the award for the second time in as many seasons, becoming the first repeat champion since Meredith Shuman who won three straight awards from 2009-2011. Petersen was named the MCAC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 15 this season.
Freshmen Kristin Hanson (Bellevue, Neb.) and Laurence Rodier (Quebec, Canada) earned recognition as MCAC Freshman and Newcomer of the Year, respectively. Hanson becomes the Bruins second straight Freshman of the Year after starting each of Bellevue's 16 matches as a center back helping the team to a 0.75 goals against average and allowing only 48 shots on goal (3 per game). Rodier, the Newcomer of the Year, began the season as classmate Bailey Petzoldt's (Hastings, Neb.) back-up but assumed the starting role when an injury forced Petzoldt out of the line-up. She logged a team-high 775:53 minutes in goal, going 9-0-0 with three shutouts, a .773 save percentage, and a 0.58 goals against average which ranks 14th among qualified goalkeepers nationally.
Bruin head coach Andy Nicholarsen guided the team to their fourth MCAC regular season title in the last five seasons to win his sixth career MCAC Coach of the Year honor. Bellevue's 15 wins this season are just one off the school record of 16 set in 2006 when the Bruins went 16-4-1, winning the MCAC Tournament and advancing to the NAIA Region IV Tournament.
Bellevue saw seven student-athletes recognized on the All-MCAC First Team and an additional two on the All-MCAC Second Team. Players of the Year Mercy Darkoah and Kate Petersen along with Freshman and Newcomer of the Year Kristin Hanson and Laurence Rodier were all tabbed on the first team. They were joined by senior Yaritza Estrada (Omaha, Neb.), junior Betsy Fischenich (Omaha, Neb.), and sophomore Lauren Clark (Portsmouth, England). Junior Aubriana Batchelor (Bellevue, Neb.) and sophomore Michelle Dolder (Cali, Colombia) were each named to the second team.
Estrada, after scoring eight goals and assisting on seven others for a total of 23 points, becomes just the seventh three-time first team selection in school history and the first since Jenica Bloom was named to the first team from 2010-12. Darkoah and Petersen, who were each second team picks in 2012 and first team choices in 2013, join Estrada as three-time honorees. Clark (second team in 2013), who demonstrated mastery on corner kicks and scored the game-winner in the MCAC semi-final – one of her six goals to go along with eight assists on the year – and Fischenich (second team in 2012), whose nine assists led the team while her 16 goals and 41 points were second only to Darkoah in the conference are also repeat winners.
Naturally, freshmen Hanson and Rodier are first-time selections while Batchelor and Dolder each earned All-Conference honors for the first time in their respective careers. Batchelor primarily played a defensive midfield role this year while registering three assists while Dolder served as an outside winger scoring four times and assisting on six other goals.
Bellevue also saw seven players named as MCAC Scholar-Athletes. Darkoah, Batchelor, Fischenich, Petersen are each second-time recipients of the awards while senior Stacey Hanson (Lawton, Okla.), and sophomores Jessica Taylor (Hallam, Neb.) and Heather Penc (Bellevue, Neb.) were each recognized for the first time. To be eligible for the award, student-athletes must have a 3.25 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale), be at least a sophomore, and have spent at least two semesters at their current school.
Bellevue looks to cap its strong season when it hosts Oklahoma Wesleyan (10-8-0/5-1-0 MCAC) in the MCAC Tournament Final on Saturday at Tranquility Park in Omaha. The top-seeded Bruins and second-seeded Eagles played a thriller back on Oct. 18 with Bellevue coming away with a 3-1 victory after falling behind early. Kick-off on Saturday is set for 2:00 p.m. while ticket prices are $5 for adults and $3 for children.
For the full list of MCAC award winners, please click here.
