By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. – A noteworthy career culminated with the best season yet by Simon Fraser’s Kiera Scott, who headlined the 2026 Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s soccer postseason awards by snagging GNAC Player of the Year honors.
 
A senior from Coquitlam, B.C., Scott led all GNAC players in goals with 11, assists with 12 and points with 34 on her way to being unanimously voted by the coaches as the league’s top player.
 
League champion Western Washington featured GNAC Defensive Player of the Year Olivia Connell, GNAC Newcomer of the Year Ella Witherspoon and GNAC Coach of the Year Travis Connell. Montana State Billings goalkeeper Tenley Leffler was selected as the GNAC Freshman of the Year.
 

GNAC Women’s Soccer 2026 All-Conference Team
Player of the Year	Kiera Scott, Simon Fraser
Defensive Player of the Year	Olivia Connell, Western Washington
Newcomer of the Year	Ella Witherspoon, Western Washington
Freshman of the Year	Tenley Leffler, Montana State Billings
Coach of the Year	Travis Connell, Western Washington

 

First-Team All-Conference
Name	School	Position	Height	Year	Hometown (Previous School)
Kiera Scott*$#	Simon Fraser	Forward	5-6	Sr.	Coquitlam, B.C. (Centennial)
Dariella Lopez @	Simon Fraser	Forward	5-7	So.	Burnaby, B.C. (Burnaby North)
Madeline Mays*	Western Washington	Forward	5-8	Fr.	Oak Harbor, Wash. (Oak Harbor)
Mie Cairns*$!	Western Washington	Midfielder	5-8	Sr.	Sammamish, Wash. (Skyline)
Sofia Faremo*%	Simon Fraser	Midfielder	5-7	Sr.	Surrey, B.C. (Fraser Valley)
Andie Buckley @	Seattle Pacific	Midfielder	5-4	Sr.	Vancouver, Wash. (Columbia River)
Attie Jo Westbrook*	Northwest Nazarene	Midfielder	5-6	Jr.	Gillette, Wyo. (Thunder Basin)
Olivia Connell*%@	Western Washington	Defender	5-10	Sr.	Woodinville, Wash. (Woodinville)
Ashlyn Valdovinos $#	Seattle Pacific	Defender	5-5	Sr.	Yakima, Wash. (West Valley)
Logann Dukes	Seattle Pacific	Defender	5-10	Sr.	Vancouver, Wash. (Columbia River)
Ellie McGowan*&	Western Washington	Goalkeeper	6-0	So.	Post Falls, Idaho (Post Falls)
*Unanimous Selection $ - First Team in 2025 ! – First Team in 2024 % - Second Team in 2025 # - Second Team in 2024 & - Honorable Mention in 2025 @ - Honorable Mention in 2024 + - Honorable Mention in 2023

 

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Second-Team All-Conference
Name	School	Position	Height	Year	Hometown (Previous School)
Jaylee Reynolds &	Central Washington	Forward	5-7	So.	Bonney Lake, Wash. (Bonney Lake)
Kyra DiBenedetto	Western Oregon	Forward	5-3	Sr.	Rancho Cordova, Calif. (Sierra Coll.)
Kylee Schreck	Central Washington	Forward	5-0	Fr.	West Linn, Ore. (West Linn)
Samantha Bouchard	Simon Fraser	Midfielder	5-7	Fr.	Ardrossan, Alta. (Vimy Ridge Acad.)
Alyssa Clark %+	Simon Fraser	Midfielder	5-5	Sr.	Port Coquitlam, B.C. (Riverside)
Shannah Mellick @	Central Washington	Midfielder	5-5	Jr.	Yakima, Wash. (East Valley)
Jane Hmura	Western Washington	Midfielder	5-6	Sr.	Portland, Ore. (Sunset)
Chloe Van Wey	Western Washington	Defender	5-6	Fr.	Spokane, Wash. (West Valley)
Kate Smith	Simon Fraser	Defender	5-9	Sr.	Coquitlam, B.C. (Centennial)
Emi MacAdam	Simon Fraser	Defender	5-10	So.	Port Moody, B.C. (Heritage Woods)
Tenley Leffler	Montana State Billings	Goalkeeper	5-8	Fr.	Billings, Mont. (Skyview)
*Unanimous Selection $ - First Team in 2025 ! – First Team in 2024 % - Second Team in 2025 # - Second Team in 2024 & - Honorable Mention in 2025 @ - Honorable Mention in 2024 + - Honorable Mention in 2023

 

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Honorable Mention All-Conference
Name	School	Position	Height	Year	Hometown (Previous School)
Marisa Badillo	Central Washington	Midfielder	5-0	Fr.	Yakima, Wash. (La Salle)
Lainee Derry	Central Washington	Defender	5-7	Sr.	Sherwood, Ore. (Sherwood)
Sydney Madison	Central Washington	Defender	5-3	Jr.	Santa Maria, Calif. (Orcutt Acad.)
Danika Galbraith	Central Washington	Goalkeeper	5-9	Sr.	Kennewick, Wash. (Southridge)
Vivian Gaither	Montana State Billings	Midfielder	5-10	Sr.	Seattle, Wash. (CSU Dominguez Hills)
Ava Curtright #	Montana State Billings	Defender	5-7	Jr.	Blaine, Wash. (Blaine)
Alexis Cromwell	Northwest Nazarene	Forward	5-1	Sr.	Kent, Wash. (Kentwood)
Abbey Blancett	Northwest Nazarene	Midfielder	5-9	Sr.	Star, Idaho (Owyhee)
Amelie Jacobs	Northwest Nazarene	Defender	5-5	So.	San Diego, Calif. (Point Loma)
Alex Barrass &	Northwest Nazarene	Goalkeeper	5-9	Sr.	Nampa, Idaho (Skyview)
Leia Tupper	Saint Martin’s	Forward	5-3	Fr.	Ewa Beach, Hawaii (James Campbell)
Nora Melcher &	Saint Martin’s	Midfielder	5-5	Sr.	Camas, Wash. (Camas)
Piper Paslay	Seattle Pacific	Defender	5-8	Fr.	Springfield, Ore. (Marist Catholic)
Abbey Simpson %	Simon Fraser	Defender	5-7	Sr.	Mississauga, Ont. (St. Marcellinus)
Sofia Piperni	Simon Fraser	Goalkeeper	5-9	Fr.	Coquitlam, B.C. (Archbishop Carney)
Lillian Mickel	Western Oregon	Defender	5-8	Jr.	Vancouver, Wash. (Columbia River)
Ayanah Soon	Western Oregon	Goalkeeper	5-8	So.	Ewa Beach, Hawaii (‘Iolani School)
Reese Walker &	Western Washington	Forward	5-10	Sr.	Spokane, Wash. (Spokane CC)
Ruby Senffner	Western Washington	Defender	5-8	Fr.	Portland, Ore. (Rex Putnam)
Ella Witherspoon	Western Washington	Defender	5-3	So.	Bellevue, Wash. (Cal State Northridge)
*Unanimous Selection $ - First Team in 2025 ! – First Team in 2024 % - Second Team in 2025 # - Second Team in 2024 & - Honorable Mention in 2025 @ - Honorable Mention in 2024 + - Honorable Mention in 2023

 

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After helping lead SFU to three consecutive GNAC Championships tournament titles, Scott saved her most productive season for last with her 34 points this fall being a career single-season best. Scott earned three GNAC Player of the Week honors throughout the campaign, scoring or assisting in 11 of 18 matches as she was the league’s

preeminent offensive threat. Scott enters this week’s conference tournament in fine form, having scored four goals and added three assists in her last six matches. Among her tallies this season were four game-winning goals and she ranked 12th in Division II soccer in total points during the regular season.
 
In her four-year career at SFU, Scott has played in 72 matches with 62 starts, accumulating 32 goals and 18 assists for 82 total points. Her 32-career goals rank her 13th in GNAC history and her 15 game-winning goals are sixth-most in conference history. Scott is a two-time all-region selection and earned her second consecutive first-team all-GNAC honor. She was named MVP of the 2024 GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships, when she scored all three of her team’s goals in its second straight tournament victory. She becomes the third woman in program history to earn the GNAC’s top award, joining 2024 co-GNAC Player of the Year Isabella Muzzolini and 2018 GNAC Player of the Year Jenna-lee Baxter.
 

Like Scott, WWU’s Connell is another fourth-year senior who has been a staple on the Western Washington back line since the fall of 2023. She helped anchor a WWU back line that tied the GNAC record for fewest goals allowed in a conference season, as the Vikings conceded just three times in their 14 GNAC contests this fall. Connell was on the pitch for every minute of the regular season, starting all 19 games and playing 1,710 minutes to help WWU capture its third consecutive GNAC regular-season title.
 
Connell made an impact offensively as well, as both of the goals she scored were game-winners during conference action. Now in four seasons in Bellingham, she has started 78 matches and logged 6,717 minutes played, while adding five goals and six assists from the center back position. She joins a long list of Vikings to be voted as the conference’s top defensive player, becoming the eighth woman in program history to earn the award. Previous WWU players to capture the honor were Claire Henninger in 2023, Emily Nelson in 2019, Emily Webster in 2016, Delanee Nilles in 2015, Kim Cooper in 2014, Brianna Jones in 2013 and Brina Sych in 2012.
 




   

In her first season after transferring from Cal State Northridge, Witherspoon was another key player that helped the Vikings capture their record 12th GNAC regular-season championship. She started 16 matches including all 14 conference contests and did her part on the Vikings’ record-tying defensive unit. Witherspoon logged 1,076 minutes during the regular season and provided an assist in WWU’s 2-0 shutout win over Western Oregon on Oct. 1. She is the eighth WWU player to claim the league’s top newcomer award and she made it three years in-a-row that the winner has been a Viking. Former honorees include Reese Walker in 2025, Kyrsten McGuffey in 2024, Tera Ziemer in 2021, Natalie Dierickx in 2018, Karli White in 2017, Ashley Homer in 2016 and Rosie Zadra in 2005.
 
Making an impact in her collegiate debut season, Montana State Billings’ Leffler put together an impressive campaign between the posts. She racked up a conference-best 107 saves (5.94 saves per game) – the most by a GNAC goalkeeper since Northwest Nazarene’s Alexis Montoya totaled 114 saves in

2019. It was also the most by a Yellowjacket since they joined the GNAC in 2007 and tied for the second-most in MSUB single-season history. Leffler eclipsed double figures in saves on three different occasions, all coming in conference play and twice coming in games her team won by a single goal. A graduate of Skyview High School in Billings, Leffler started all 18 matches and played every minute of the season for the Yellowjackets in net. She finished with a save percentage of .823, three shutouts and a goals-against average of 1.28. Leffler is the third Yellowjacket to claim GNAC Freshman of the Year, joining 2021 co-winner Liberty Palmer and 2009 winner Jaucelyn Richter.
 
In synchrony with his team’s three consecutive trophies, WWU’s Connell was voted by his peers as the league’s top coach for the third straight season. It marked the 10th GNAC Coach of the Year honor for the conference’s most successful women’s soccer coach, who has collected 18 GNAC trophies including the regular season and conference tournament since his tenure began in 2003. Yet another pennant campaign, which saw WWU go 14-2-3 overall and 12-1-1 in league play to win the title by three points ahead of Simon Fraser, culminated in the top seed heading into this week’s GNAC Championships tournament in Seattle. Connell’s side put together an unbeaten streak of 41 consecutive conference matches that began at the end of the 2023 campaign and lasted until the final week of the 2026 season. His record is 353-92-56 (.760) overall and 231-45-32 (.802) in conference play – both win totals being over 100 more wins than the next closest GNAC coach.
 
The 2026 GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships kick off on Thursday at Interbay Stadium and will be hosted by Seattle Pacific University. Complete details including the game schedule, ticket and live coverage information can be found online here.