Women's Soccer boasts school record 11 honorees on 2018 Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference Team
By Blake Moore
| 2018 Fall Academic All-OAC Team (.pdf) |
ADA — A school record 11 members from the Ohio Northern women's soccer program have been tabbed Academic All-OAC selections for the 2018 regular season, the Ohio Athletic Conference office announced Tuesday morning.
Seniors Sarah Puntel (Strongsville) and McKenna Welsh (Westerville/Bishop Hartley), junior Haley Moses (Mason), and sophomores Megan Breier (Plainfield, Ill./North), Courtney Favazzo (Mayfield Heights/Mayfield), Jenna Fuller (Countryside, Ill./Lyons Township), Sammy Lyon (Pataskala/Watkins Memorial), Anne Major (Okemos, Mich.), Abigail Mathews (Liberty Township/Lakota East), Ann McArn (Bay Village/Western Reserve Academy), and Cat Schaefer (Lexington) were each awarded the honor for their success in the classroom.
To receive Academic All-OAC honors, student-athletes must be a sophomore-or-higher in academic standing, maintain varsity-level status during the season, and hold a minimum 3.50 cumulative grade-point average.
The OAC recognized 324 student-athletes in six sports across the 10 league teams this fall, with Ohio Northern collecting 57 of those awards.
Puntel, a senior midfielder studying management/risk management and insurance, received her third consecutive accolade from the conference to round out her career at ONU.
The Strongsville native completed her career having appeared in 77 matches with 62 starts, including all 19 matches in 2018. She has produced 15 career goals and six career assists while being named to the OCSA Academic All-Ohio Second-Team in 2017 and garnering Ohio Athletic Conference All-Tournament and All-OAC Second-Team kudos in 2018.
Welsh, a forward from Westerville majoring in exercise physiology, earned her second Academic All-OAC honor after being named a recipient in 2016.
The 2018 All-OAC Second-Team selection concluded her career with 39 appearances and 27 starts. Welsh finished with 15 career goals and four assists after ending second on the team in both categories during the past season.
Moses, a junior mechanical engineering major, garnered her second consecutive accolade with the appointment.
The midfielder adds the award to a list that includes being named a three-time All-Ohio Athletic Conference honoree, an United Soccer Coaches All-Great Lakes Region First-Team member in 2017 and 2018, an All-Ohio First-Team selection in 2017, and the 2017 OAC Midfielder of the Year.
The Mason native has started all 61 matches in her three-year stint at ONU and has tallied eight goals, 17 assists, and five game-winners in her career. Last season, she registered a team-best six assists.
Breier, a second-year pharmacy major from Plainfield, Illinois, collected her first Academic All-OAC honor following the award release.
In two seasons, she has appeared in 43 matches with 18 starts for the Orange and Black. Additionally, the forward/midfielder has posted four goals and six assists for 14 career points.
Favazzo, who is also a second-year pharmacy major, received her first conference accolade.
The Mayfield Heights native has been a used as a regular substitute for the Polar Bears during her career, having appeared in 42 matches with a pair of starts. She owns two career goals, both serving as game-winners, and four total assists.
Fuller, a sophomore civil engineering major, garnered her award after a productive 2018 campaign where she led ONU with 16 goals, 34 points, and seven game-winning braces. Her 16 goals rank second all-time among sophomores in program history while her 34 points sit third among the same group.
The two-time All-OAC selection and former OAC Freshman of the Year now owns 28 goals, 14 assists, 70 points, and 13 game-winning goals in her two-year career.
Lyon, an exercise physiology student-athlete from Pataskala, earned her first Academic All-OAC kudos following a career-high 11 appearances in 2018.
The second-year midfielder/defender has seen playing time in 17 career matches and has recorded two shots.
Major, a sophomore engineering education major, captured her first honor after appearing in a career-best 12 contests this year.
Overall, the Okemos, Michigan native has competed in 20 career matches and tallied three career goals on 10 total shots.
Mathews, an athletic training major who hails from Liberty Township, received her first career academic honor.
In 38 career appearances, the sophomore midfielder has tallied 19 starts, three assists, and 22 shots.
McArn, an academic junior studying pharmacy in her sophomore athletic season, received her first honor following a season where she appeared in two contests.
Through two competitive seasons, she has appeared in seven matches and scored a goal during the 2016 campaign.
Schaefer, a nursing major from Lexington, also collected her first academic honor in 2018.
The sophomore has appeared in 18 career matches throughout her two-year stint at Ohio Northern. This season, she scored her first career goal in an 11-0 rout of Muskingum and tallied her first assist in the following match at Wilmington.
The Polar Bears finished the 2018 campaign sporting a 14-4-1 overall record and a 7-1-1 conference mark under 15th-year head coach Mark Batman. Northern finished second in the final league standings and fell in the OAC Tournament Finals to Otterbein 1-0 in overtime to conclude their season.