By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. – Two of the top attacking players in Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s soccer shared the league’s top honor, with Simon Fraser’s Isabella Muzzolini and Seattle Pacific’s Taylor Krueger being named co-GNAC Player of the Year for the 2024 campaign.
 
Muzzolini, a senior midfielder and Krueger, a junior forward, were each first-team all-conference selections and earned equal points in the player of the year balloting from the conference’s head coaches.
 
Simon Fraser’s Emily Smith was voted the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, SFU’s Dariella Lopez was named GNAC Freshman of the Year and Western Washington’s Kyrsten McGuffey was selected as the GNAC Newcomer of the Year. After leading his team to an undefeated league record and its 10th GNAC regular-season title, WWU’s Travis Connell was voted by his peers as the GNAC Coach of the Year.
 

2024 Great Northwest Athletic Conference - Women's Soccer All-Conference Team
Special Award Winners
Co-Player of the Year	Taylor Krueger, Seattle Pacific
Co-Player of the Year	Isabella Muzzolini, Simon Fraser
Defensive Player of the Year	Emily Smith, Simon Fraser
Freshman of the Year	Dariella Lopez, Simon Fraser
Newcomer of the Year	Kyrsten McGuffey, Western Washington
Coach of the Year	Travis Connell, Western Washington

 

First-Team All-Conference
Name	School	Pos.	Ht.	Yr.	Hometown (Previous School)
*@ Taylor Krueger	Seattle Pacific	F	5-6	Jr.	Tigard, Ore. (Saint Louis)
*+! Morgan Manalili	Western Washington	F	5-5	Jr.	Shoreline, Wash. (Shorewood)
%# Liberty Palmer	Montana State Billings	F	5-7	Jr.	Maple Valley, Wash. (Tahoma)
*+& Isabella Muzzolini	Simon Fraser	MF	5-7	Sr.	Maple Ridge, B.C. (Georgia)
Mie Cairns	Western Washington	MF	5-8	So.	Sammamish, Wash. (Skyline)
*+& Lauren Snedeker	Seattle Pacific	MF	5-9	Sr.	Washougal, Wash. (Washougal)
*+x Asia Hardin	Western Washington	D	5-5	Jr.	West Linn, Ore. (West Linn)
*# Emily Smith	Simon Fraser	D	5-9	Sr.	Coquitlam, B.C. (Centennial Secondary)
^ Jada Foster	Western Oregon	D	5-8	Sr.	Corvallis, Ore. (Crescent Valley)
*$# Payton Aselton	Saint Martin's	D	5-9	Sr.	Adna, Wash. (Adna)
# Sarah Loewen	Simon Fraser	GK	5-5	Jr.	Burnaby, B.C. (Burnaby Mountain)

 

Second-Team All-Conference
Name	School	Pos.	Ht.	Yr.	Hometown (Previous School)
Kyrsten McGuffey	Western Washington	F	5-7	Sr.	Port Angeles, Wash. (Saint Rose)
Ciara Garcia	Western Oregon	F	5-5	So.	Flagstaff, Ariz. (UC Colorado Springs)
Kiera Scott	Simon Fraser	F	5-6	So.	Coquitlam, B.C. (Centennial Secondary)
Ashlyn Valdovinos	Seattle Pacific	MF	5-5	So.	Yakima, Wash. (West Valley)
@ Kate Cartier	Simon Fraser	MF	5-8	Sr.	Kelowna, B.C. (Okanagan Mission)
x@ Lulu Sadler	Western Oregon	MF	5-6	Sr.	Camas, Wash. (Mountain View)
@ Halle Noel	Western Washington	D	5-7	Sr.	Puyallaup, Wash. (Puyallup)
x@ Kathryn Nyone	Seattle Pacific	D	5-10	Sr.	Portland, Ore. (Portland Christian)
%& Kate Bleffert	Northwest Nazarene	D	5-8	Sr.	Driggs, Idaho (Teton)
Ava Curtright	Montana State Billings	D	5-6	Fr.	Blaine, Wash. (Blaine)
Sophia Pierce	Western Oregon	GK	5-9	Jr.	Missoula, Mont. (Montana)

 

Honorable Mention All-Conference
Name	School	Pos.	Ht.	Yr.	Hometown (Previous School)
@ Casey Park	Central Washington	F	5-8	Jr.	Grants Pass, Ore. (Grants Pass)
Shannah Mellick	Central Washington	MF	5-5	Fr.	Yakima, Wash. (East Valley)
@ Erika Wilson	Montana State Billings	MF	5-4	Jr.	Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas (Sam Houston State)
x Taylor Gertsch	Montana State Billings	MF	5-9	Sr.	Billings, Mont. (Skyview)
Kendall McGraw	Montana State Billings	MF	5-6	Sr.	Hockinson, Wash. (Hockinson)
Savanna Herz	Northwest Nazarene	F	5-9	Jr.	Murrieta, Calif. (Murrieta Mesa)
Flavia Burrell	Saint Martin's	GK	5-10	Sr.	Tucson, Ariz. (CSU Bakersfield)
Nora Patterson	Seattle Pacific	F	5-7	So.	Shoreline, Wash. (Shorecrest)
Andie Buckley	Seattle Pacific	MF	5-4	So.	Vancouver, Wash. (Columbia River)
x Mercedes Cullen	Seattle Pacific	GK	5-7	Jr.	Spokane, Wash. (Mead)
@ Mikayla Tupper	Simon Fraser	F	5-9	Sr.	Langley, B.C. (Miami)
Dariella Lopez	Simon Fraser	F	5-7	Fr.	Burnaby, B.C. (Burnaby North)
Elyse Beaudry	Simon Fraser	D	5-7	Jr.	Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que. (Radford)
x# Katie Richardson	Simon Fraser	D	5-6	Jr.	Nepean, Ont. (John McCrae Secondary)
Lydia Myers	Western Washington	MF	5-9	Sr.	Colbert, Wash. (Kansas State)
Olivia Connell	Western Washington	D	5-10	So.	Woodinville, Wash. (Woodinville)
Abigail Trengove	Western Washington	GK	5-10	Sr.	Folsom, Calif. (Long Beach State)
*-Unanimous Selection | +First-Team (2023) | # Second-Team (2023) | @ Honorable Mention (2023) ! First-Team (2022) | & Second Team (2022) | x - Honorable Mention (2022) ^ First Team (2021) | % Second Team (2021) | $ Honorable Mention (2021)

Muzzolini is the second player in SFU history to garner the GNAC’s top honor, joining 2018 selection Jenna-lee Baxter. The senior from Maple Ridge, B.C., led the team with 17 points, scoring six goals and adding a team-best five assists during the regular season. She ranked fourth in the conference with an average of 1.00 points per game, while starting 17 matches to help SFU finish tied for second in the GNAC standings with 27 points (12-3-3, 8-3-3 GNAC).
 
Krueger is the latest in a long list of 11 Seattle Pacific players who have captured the title of league’s best player since the conference was founded in 2001, and made it consecutive years bringing the award to her team after Sophie Beadle earned the honor in 2023. Krueger led her team to a tie for second in the GNAC standings with 27 points (9-2-7, 7-1-6) by ranking second in the GNAC with seven assists and six goals for a total of 19 points. The junior from Tigard, Ore., started all 18 matches during the regular season, ranking second in the conference with 55 shots for an average of 3.06 per game.
 
Krueger and Muzzolini are the fifth and sixth players in GNAC history to win both the GNAC Newcomer of the Year and Player of the Year awards in their careers. Krueger was the 2023 co-Newcomer of the Year after transferring from Saint Louis University, and Muzzolini was the 2022 GNAC Newcomer of the Year after transferring from Georgia.
 
Smith is the first player in SFU history to garner the league’s top defender honor, after being a staple on the back line throughout her senior season. The Coquitlam, B.C., product, who was a unanimous first-team all-league pick, started 16 of 18 matches and totaled 1,300 minutes during the regular season. Smith, a 5-foot-9 center back, helped lead a defense that conceded 12 goals in its 18 matches, and tied for the GNAC lead with a goal differential of plus-24. In addition to her role defensively, Smith contributed a goal and an assist this fall.
 
 
Lopez is the third Red Leaf to earn the GNAC Freshman of the Year award, after Emma Pringle in 2016 and Christina Dickson in 2015 claimed back-to-back honors. Despite playing just 553 minutes in her debut collegiate season, Lopez scored six goals and added four assists to rank second in the conference with 1.14 points per game. She averaged a goal every 92.2 minutes played, with two of her finishes counting as game-winners. The hometown Burnaby, B.C., product played in 14 matches including four starts to help lead the Red Leafs to their fourth straight GNAC Championships tournament. Lopez earned honorable mention all-conference recognition as well.
 
In her first season at WWU after transferring from The College of Saint Rose, McGuffey was the top statistical attacker in the Vikings’ lineup. The Port Angeles, Wash., native led the league in goals with eight and points per game with 1.22, while tying for fourth in the conference with six assists. McGuffey played in all 18 matches and made 13 starts, while contributing a league-leading five game-winning goals. She is the sixth Viking to claim the GNAC Newcomer of the Year award and the first since 2021 selection Tera Ziemer. McGuffey garnered second-team all-GNAC honors this season.
 
Selected as the league’s top coach for the eighth time, Connell led his squad to 36 points with an overall record of 12-2-5 and a league record of 11-0-3. The 22nd-year head man pulled his program into a tie for the most GNAC regular-season titles won, and the Vikings advanced to the GNAC tournament for the 12th straight season. Connell was most recently named GNAC Coach of the Year in 2022, when he went on to earn regional and national coach of the year after delivering the Vikings’ second NCAA Division II national title. The 2024 season marked the sixth time that WWU completed its league schedule with no losses, the most of any GNAC program since the conference was formed in 2001.
 
 
Including McGuffey, the GNAC champion Vikings totaled eight all-conference players after bringing home the hardware. Morgan Manalili earned first-team all-league for the third consecutive season, after leading the GNAC with eight assists and chipping in a pair of goals. She is the seventh Viking to be a three-time first-team all-league selection and just the 19th player in the 24-year history of the league with that distinction. Sophomore midfielder Mie Cairns and junior defender Asia Hardin were WWU’s other first-team selections, both starting all 19 matches during the regular season. Hardin, a unanimous pick, earned her third all-conference honor after being first-team in 2023 and honorable mention as a freshman in 2022. They helped lead a WWU defense that allowed a GNAC-low nine goals this fall and tied for the conference lead with a goal differential of plus-24.
 
Joining Muzzolini and Smith on the first team for Simon Fraser was junior goalkeeper Sarah Loewen, who was a second-team pick in 2023. Loewen recorded six shutouts throughout the campaign, held a goals-against average of .754 and posted a save percentage of .817. In total Simon Fraser had nine all-conference picks, the most of any GNAC team.
 
In addition to Krueger, Lauren Snedeker was Seattle Pacific’s other first-team selection as she earned that distinction for the second straight season. The senior midfielder started all 18 matches during the regular season for SPU, chipping in three goals and an assist while playing a team-high 1,489 minutes. A unanimous pick, Snedeker earned her third overall all-conference award after being a second-team pick in 2022. The Falcons had seven total all-conference players this season.
 
 
Western Oregon (6-5-8, 6-3-5), which finished fourth in the GNAC standings with 23 points to earn its second straight trip to the conference tournament, was represented on the league’s first team by captain Jada Foster. Leading a back line that conceded just 13 goals in 19 matches, Foster overcame injury to start 12 matches in the back half of the regular season. She helped the Wolves compile a school-record streak of six consecutive shutouts in the middle of the season, and WOU allowed no more than two goals in any match this fall. It is Foster’s second-career first-team honor, after she was a 2021 first-team pick. Four Wolves in total garnered all-conference honors.
 
Montana State Billings striker Liberty Palmer earned first-team all-conference recognition, after being a second-team pick in both 2021 and 2023. The Maple Valley, Wash., native tied for second in the GNAC with six goals scored, while playing in all 18 matches for the Yellowjackets this fall. MSUB (6-8-4, 3-7-4) totaled five all-conference selections, after finishing fifth in the GNAC standings with 13 points.
 
 
The other first-team all-league player was Saint Martin’s defender Payton Aselton, who earned all-conference honors for the third time. An honorable mention pick in 2021 and a second-team selection last year, Aselton was unanimously voted to the first team after anchoring the Saints during her senior season. The senior from Adna, Wash., started all 18 matches and logged 1,453 minutes on the pitch. She was one of two all-league picks for the Saints (3-13-3, 3-8-3), who finished tied for sixth in the GNAC standings with 12 points.
 
 
Northwest Nazarene (4-14, 4-10) and Central Washington (1-11-5, 0-10-4) each received a pair of all-conference honors. The Nighthawks finished tied for sixth in the GNAC standings with 12 points and the Wildcats were eighth with four points.
 
The 2024 GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships kick off on Thursday afternoon at Interbay Stadium in Seattle. Comprehensive information about the event can be found online here.