ST. LOUIS – The Illinois State soccer team has brought home plenty of hardware this season and the program can add four more awards to an already-cluttered trophy case. Seniors Rachel Tejada and Aryn Newsom were named to the MVC Scholar Athlete First Team while Gabbi McArtor and Brooke Ksiazek were named Honorable Mentions.
Tejada, the MVC Player of the Year, led the conference in goals (20), assists (11) and points (51). She was named to the All-MVC First Team for the fourth-consecutive season and was also named MVP of the MVC Tournament. For the second time in her career she was named CoSIDA Academic All-District V.
Earlier this season Tejada broke the all-time MVC goals record when she netted the 60th of her career. She also broke the conference assists record. After a five-point performance on Saturday against USF, Tejada reached 190 career points. She now stands 25th all-time in career points among Division I players. In the classroom, Tejada has a 3.41 GPA while studying biological sciences.
Newsom was named to the All-MVC Second Team and has turned in another solid campaign in the net. She has posted eight shutouts on the season and went over 300 career saves and won her 50th game Saturday against USF. Newsom's 1.22 goals against average was second in the conference and she has made 63 saves this season.
McArtor and Ksiazek have been part of the MVC's stingiest defense this season. As a group, they allowed just two goals during regular season MVC play and recorded four shutouts against conference foes. The duo contributed to the offensive attack as well, with McArtor netting a goal and dishing out two assists and Ksiazek scoring two and assisting one.
The Redbirds travel to Los Angeles, California, this weekend to face No. 11 Pepperdine in the NCAA Tournament Second Round. ISU will be looking to advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time in school history. Kickoff Friday is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST and a live audio and video broadcast will be available on GoRedbirds.com.
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