NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State women's soccer senior Ashlee Savona was named second team All-Southland Conference as voted on by league head coaches and sports information directors the conference announced Tuesday.
 
Fellow senior Jessica Danku, who was named honorable mention, joined Savona.
 
Savona, a 5-2 midfielder/forward, led the Lady Demons with eight points on four goals for the year.  She took 28 shots and had 17 of those be on goal for a 60.7 shot on-goal percentage.
 
The Mississauga, Ontario (Humber College) native had two game winning goals: one at Houston Baptist and the other in a two-goal effort versus Nicholls.
 
"Being the leading scorer on the team carries a big burden," said head coach George Van Linder.  "When we needed to score we always looked to her, especially after Yanci [Johnson, who had her season cut short due to injury] went down."
 
She finished her career with 15 goals and five assists for a total of 37 points as a Lady Demon. 
 
Savona was also the first Northwestern State soccer player to play on any country's national soccer team when she was named to the Guyana national squad in 2010.  She helped her team qualify for the Women's Gold Cup, a qualifying tournament for the Women's World Cup.
 
"We are very appreciative of our seniors and what they did for us this season," said Van Linder. "They meant a lot to us and had a big impact on the successes we did have this season."
 
Danku finished her season with a 5-9-1 record and 116 saves in goal. She started in 18 games for NSU and totaled over 1500 minutes between the pipes.
 
She finished her career with 18 wins and 300 saves.  The St. Catharines, Ontario (St. Catharines College) native collected nine shutouts.
 
"We always say that our goalkeepers are the last line of defense, and Jess was exactly that," said Van Linder.  "She did a tremendous job for us."
 
The two led a group of seven seniors who helped NSU to the most league wins in nine years, and finished just two points shy of making it to the Southland Conference Tournament for the first time since 2008.
 
 
The 2013 Southland Soccer All-Conference teams are comprised of 11 first-team members and 11 second-team members and are chosen by vote of the league's head coaches and sports information directors. The recipients are grouped by position and are placed by the number of votes received.
 

2013 All-Southland Conference Soccer Teams
 
First Team
Name                                           School                                        Position                    Class                                            Hometown/High School
Spencer Valdespino             Nicholls                                      Forward                     So.                            Spring Hill, Fla./Bishop McLaughlin
Chelsea Raymond³                Stephen F. Austin                  Forward                     Jr.                                                     Irving, Texas/MacArthur
Andrea Carpenter                 Abilene Christian                  Forward                     Sr.                                                     Amarillo, Texas/Randall
Jennifer Abernathy²              Oral Roberts                             Midfielder                Sr.                                               Broken Arrow, Okla./Union
Melissa Gaudet                        Stephen F. Austin                  Midfielder                Sr.                                Bayside, Nova Scotia/Halifax West
Kelsey Salcido²                        Southeastern Louisiana     Midfielder                Sr.                                         Lakewood, Calif./Los Alamitos
Megan Dunnigan²                 Stephen F. Austin                  Defender                   Jr.                                        Round Rock, Texas/Vista Ridge
Kaily Cox                                    Oral Roberts                             Defender                   So.                                                                  Tulsa, Okla./Jenks
Chelsea Villaescusa              Southeastern Louisiana     Defender                   Jr.                                                   Cypress, Calif./St. Josephs
Hope Sabadash                       Southeastern Louisiana     Goalkeeper               Fr.                     Mississauga, Ontario/Our Lady of Mount St. Carmel
Adriana Lucar^{1, 2}                      Central Arkansas                   Forward                     Jr.                                                               Lima, Peru/Harding
 
                                                                                                                                                      
Second Team                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
Name                                           School                                        Position                    Class                                            Hometown/High School
Megan Giles                              Oral Roberts                             Forward                     Jr.                                                 Tulsa, Okla./Broken Arrow
Katie Miller                               UIW                                               Forward                     Sr.                                            Tyler, Texas/Home-schooled
Jordan Parsons                        Oral Roberts                             Forward                     Sr.                                                  Shawnee, Okla./Shawnee
Kayla Keller                              Oral Roberts                             Midfielder                So.                                   Tulsa, Okla./Regent Preparatory
Ashlee Savona                         Northwestern State              Midfielder                Sr.                                    Mississauga, Ontario/St. Martins
Mariah Titus                             Sam Houston State                Midfielder                So.                                                              Bedford, Texas/Bell
Erin Christ                                 Southeastern Louisiana     Defender                   So.                                                    Irvine, Calif./Northwood
Shanyce Shaw                         Southeastern Louisiana     Defender                   Jr.                                                       Ajax, Ontario/Pickering
Brie Buschman                        Abilene Christian                  Defender                   Sr.                                                     Amarillo, Texas/Randall
Maddie Rhodes                       Oral Roberts                             Goalkeeper               So.                                                                Tulsa, Okla./Union
Brenda Salazar¹                      Stephen F. Austin                  Midfielder                Sr.                            Sugar Land, Texas/Fort Bend Austin

¹At-large selection
²Two-time first-team selection
³Three-time first-team selection

Honorable mention: Zuri Prince, F, SFA; Brianna Singh, F, SLU; Yvette Fanco, F, AMCC; Kimmy Albeno, F, LU; Jannet Hernandez, MF, LU; Tricia Mallory, MF, SHSU; Molly Missimer, MF, HBU; Whitley Lindholm, MF, ACU; Melissa Pestalozzi, MF, NICH; Jess Coates, MF, NICH; Kate Koch, MF, UCA; Sydney Solomon, MF, UIW; Leah Bickers, D, ORU; Chantall Curry, D, SFA; Brooke Dunnigan, D, SFA; Megan Bennett, D, SHSU; Kelsie Roberts, D, ACU; Amber Thornhill, D, LU; Rachel Owens, D, SFA; Sarah Parker, D, UIW; Alexa Herbers, D, UCA; Kylie Hambleton, GK, SHSU; Lacey Lee, GK, SFA; Jessica Danku, NSU.

Player of the Year – Spencer Valdespino, Nicholls
Freshman of the Year – Hope Sabadash, Southeastern Louisiana
Newcomer of the Year – Kaily Cox, Oral Roberts
Coach of the Year – Wally Crittenden, Stephen F. Austin