FRISCO, Texas – The Southland Conference announced its Soccer Preseason All-Conference Teams on Wednesday, and ACU landed four selections. The preseason all-conference teams are presented by
Hercules Tires.
Senior
Christina Arteaga was named to the pre-season first team and will look to make it a clean sweep of her career on the All-Southland First Team. The Pflugerville, Texas native enters the spring with 73 career points and 30 goals, both the second-most in ACU history.
Sophomore
Natalie Jones, the defending Southland Freshman of the Year, joins Arteaga on the pre-season first team. Jones and Arteaga have both been named Freshman of the year. In fact, an ACU player has earned that award in four consecutive seasons. Jones earned First Team honors last fall after scoring seven goals in 17 games played.
Junior defender
Alyssia Anuat was named to the preseason second team, another former Freshman of the Year in the league. Anuat earned third team honors a season ago after starting 19 games for the Purple and White.
Sophomore
Caylen Wright, the unofficial runner-up for Freshman of the Year in 2019, earns a spot on the preseason second team as well. Wright was stellar as a rookie, earning second-team honors after finishing second on the team with eight goals. She added an assist as well giving her 17 total points.
The spring portion of the 2020-21 season gets underway on Friday, Feb. 5 at West Texas A&M, and the first Southland Conference game gets underway at Elmer Gray Stadium on Friday, Feb. 12.
NOTE: Returning players from the 2019 All-Conference teams are automatically named to the this year's Preseason All-Conference teams at their same positions. Second team players are elevated to first team if the first team slot is vacated by a non-returning player at their same position. Vacant positions are nominated and voted upon by the conference's head coaches. Voting for one's own player is not permitted.
2020-21 Southland Conference Preseason First Team
| Pos. |
Name |
School |
Class |
Hometown |
| D |
Nicole Henry* |
Northwestern State |
Jr. |
Tomball, Texas |
| D |
Natalee Henry* |
Northwestern State |
Jr. |
Tomball, Texas |
| D |
Sophia Manibo* |
Lamar |
Sr. |
Beaumont, Texas |
| D |
Juana Plata* |
Lamar |
Jr. |
Houston, Texas |
| MF |
Abby Deakin* |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
Sr. |
Broomfield, Colo. |
| MF |
Natalie Jones* |
Abilene Christian |
So. |
Lubbock, Texas |
| MF |
Kaisa Juvonen* |
Lamar |
So. |
Tampere, Finland |
| MF |
Hannah Walsh* |
UIW |
So. |
Preston, England |
| F |
Christina Arteaga* |
Abilene Christian |
Sr. |
Pflugerville, Texas |
| F |
Keeley Ayala* |
UIW |
Jr. |
Wichita Falls, Texas |
| F |
Esther Okoronkwo* |
Lamar |
R-Sr. |
Richmond, Texas |
| F |
Katelyn Termini* |
Stephen F. Austin |
Sr. |
Frisco, Texas |
| GK |
Kyleigh Hall* |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
Sr. |
Mansfield, Texas |
2020 Southland Conference Preseason Second Team
| Pos. |
Name |
School |
Class |
Hometown |
| D |
Alana Mangan* |
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi |
So. |
Bedford, Texas |
| D |
Alyssia Anuat* |
Abilene Christian |
Jr. |
San Diego, Calif. |
| D |
Hallie Field* |
Northwestern State |
So. |
Frisco, Texas |
| D |
Keely Morrow* |
McNeese |
Sr. |
Nevada, Texas |
| MF |
Isabelle Beletic* |
UIW |
Sr. |
Corpus Christi, Texas |
| MF |
Kalynn Bickford* |
Sam Houston State |
So. |
Mansfield, Texas |
| MF |
Emma Hawkins* |
Central Arkansas |
So. |
Forney, Texas |
| MF |
Jade Piper |
UIW |
Sr. |
Corpus Christi, Texas |
| F |
Jalen Donaldson* |
Northwestern State |
Jr. |
Richmond, British Columbia |
| F |
Havana Johnson* |
McNeese |
Sr. |
Coeur d'Alene, Idaho |
| F |
Madison Ledet* |
Lamar |
Sr. |
Nederland, Texas |
| F |
Caylen Wright* |
Abilene Christian |
So. |
Joshua, Texas |
| GK |
Madeline Talbot* |
Stephen F. Austin |
R-Jr. |
Shreveport, La. |
* Automatic selection – Returning 2019 all-conference member
