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GNAC Awards Release
SPOKANE, Wash. -- Senior forward Jocelyn Charette received the 2009 Player of the Year award and Chuck Sekyra, also from league champion Seattle Pacific, was named the Coach of the Year when the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s soccer awards were announced Tuesday.
Charette (Lakewood, Wash./Curtis HS) leads the conference in scoring with 37 points on 15 goals and seven assists. She ranks seventh among GNAC career scorers with 87 points, a figure that places her third among all-time SPU players. That is not the only category that Charette is among the Falcons’ career leaders. She ranks third with 31 goals, second with 15 game-winning goals and fourth with 25 assists.
Sekyra and Rob Walker of Saint Martin’s tied in the voting for the GNAC Coach-of-the-Year award. It is the fifth time Sekyra has received the conference honor. He also won the prize in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007.
Sekyra coached SPU (16-3-1) to a 9-2-1 record and its sixth GNAC championship. Last year, he guided the Falcons to their first women’s soccer national championship, a title they begin defense of on Thursday against Chico State. That NCAA Tournament first-round game is set for 7 p.m. at Triton Field on the campus of host UC San Diego.
A 1989 SPU graduate, Sekyra has compiled a 134-14-11 record and directed the Falcons into the postseason in each of his seven seasons.
Charette was among five unanimous selections to the GNAC all-star team along with freshman teammate Taylor Sawyer (Gig Harbor, Wash./North Mason HS), a defender. Also elected unanimously were Saint Martin’s forward Jill Webb along with Kelly Irving and Alicia Patten of Western Washington. Three players – Charette, Webb and Irving – were repeat selections from last year.
Conference champion Seattle Pacific placed a league-best five players on the all-conference first team. Saint Martin’s and Western Washington had two each, while Montana State Billings, Central Washington and Western Oregon all had one.
The Falcons’ other three first-team selections were junior goalkeeper Maddie Dickinson (Vancouver, Wash./Skyview HS), sophomore midfielder Kelsey Jenkins (Kent, Wash./Kentwood HS) and junior forward Amanda Johnson (Duval, Wash./Cedarcrest HS).
SPU placed two midfielders on the second team, senior Janae Godoy (Yakima, Wash./West Valley HS) and sophomore Savanna Hanson (Centennial, Colo.). Falcons freshman defender Taylor Lundquist (San Jose, Calif.) was an honorable mention honoree.
Western Oregon’s Rachelle Kliewer was voted the GNAC Newcomer of the Year and Jaucelyn Richter of Montana State Billings garnered the Freshman of the Year award.
Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer All-Star Team
(* unanimous selections)
First Team
*Jill Webb, SMU, F, 5-6, Jr., Puyallup, Wash.
*Jocelyn Charette, SPU, F, 5-10, Sr., Lakewood, Wash.
Amanda Johnson, SPU, F, 5-7, Jr., Duvall, Wash.
Jaucelyn Richter, MSUB, F, 5-5, Fr., Billings, Mont.
Rachelle Kliewer, WOU, F, 5-8, Jr., Tualatin, Ore.
*Kelly Irving, WWU, MF, 5-6, Sr., Gig Harbor, Wash.
Kayci Donatelli, SMU, MF, 5-7, Jr., Seattle, Wash.
Kelsey Jenkins, SPU, MF, 5-8, So., Kent, Wash.
*Taylor Sawyer, SPU, D, 5-5, Fr., Gig Harbor, Wash.
*Alicia Patten, WWU, D, 5-9, So., Seattle, Wash.
Jessica Andrews, CWU, D, 5-5, Sr., Spanaway, Wash.
Maddie Dickinson, SPU, GK, 5-4, Jr., Vancouver, Wash.
Second Team (SPU players only)
Savanna Hanson, SPU, MF, 5-8, So., Centennial, Colo.
Janae Godoy, SPU, MF, 5-4, Sr., Yakima, Wash.
Honorable Mention (SPU players only)
Taylor Lundquist, SPU, D, 5-8, Fr., San Jose, Calif.