SEATTLE, Wash. - After helping the Seattle University women's soccer team win the GNAC regular season title and advance to the NCAA Division II Tournament, senior Ana Gutierrez (Las Cruces, N.M.) and juniors Ashley Porter (Redmond, Wash.) and Leah Wymer (Bothell, Wash.) have been named First Team All-Far West Region by members of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA).
Midfielder Maryann Boddy (Bellevue, Wash.) and goalie Kaitlyn Jackson (Kent, Wash.) were also honored by being voted Second Team All-Far West Region by the coaches. These five student-athletes played a major role in Seattle's 15-3-2 season and a final ranking of 17th nationally.
Gutierrez will leave Seattle University as one of the most decorated student-athletes in school history. She became the third women's soccer player in conference history to be a four-time First Team All-GNAC honoree. She is now a three-time First Team All-Far West Region honoree after being named Second Team All-Region in her freshman season.
Last week Gutierrez earned First Team CoSIDA Academic All-American honors and is a two-time CoSIDA First Team Academic All-District and three-time GNAC Academic All-Conference honoree. She started all 83 matches in her career, earning seven goals and three assists for 17 career points.
For the second consecutive season, Porter led the conference with 14 assists, seventh in Division II with 0.7 assists per match. She was named GNAC Player of the Year, was a unanimous selection for All-GNAC First Team, is a two-time CoSIDA First Team Academic All-District and recently earned Second Team Academic All-American honors. Porter is fourth on Seattle's all-time assists list with 34 career helpers entering her senior year.
Wymer was a unanimous selection to the First Team All-GNAC for the second consecutive season. She led the Redhawks with nine goals and six game-winning goals, including the goal in overtime in the regular season finale against Seattle Pacific that clinched the team's first conference title since 2001. Wymer will enter her senior season with 27 career goals, tied for sixth on Seattle's all-time list.
Boddy finished the 2006 season tied for second on the squad with seven goals and tied for third with 16 total points. She was a Second Team All-GNAC and GNAC Academic All-Conference selection this year. Jackson started all 20 matches in goal for the Redhawks, finishing ninth in Division II in goals against average (0.50) and also earning eight shutouts during the season. She was a First Team All-GNAC selection as well as a member of the CoSIDA Academic All-District First Team.
Porter, Wymer, Boddy, and Jackson are expected to return for the 2007 season, as are 16 other letterwinners from the 2006 roster. With that much experience returning, Seattle will be counted on as one of the top teams entering the 2007 campaign.