COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Mountain West announced its 2018 women’s soccer all-conference teams and individual award winners today. For the second year in a row, Boise State junior forward Raimee Sherle was named the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, while Wyoming senior defender Taylor Burton was tabbed as the Defensive Player of the Year. San Diego State freshman midfielder Laura Fuentes earned the Newcomer of the Year accolade and Boise State’s Jim Thomas was tabbed as the Coach of the Year. The individual awards and All-Mountain West teams were selected by the league’s 12 head coaches.
Sherle is only the second Mountain West player to win back-to-back Offensive Player of the Year award joining New Mexico’s Jennifer Williams (2010 & ’11). The junior added her name to the Conference record book with 11 goals in MW action and is tied for second in game-winning goals in league matches (5). She leads the MW in goals (11), points (22), shots (54), shots per game (4.91), points per game (2.00) and goals per game (1.00). The forward, who scored a goal in seven of 10 conference matches in 2018, also recorded three consecutive multi-goal games; a hat trick against UNLV (Sept. 23) and two goals in matches against Colorado State (Sept. 28) and Wyoming (Sept. 30). The Meridian, Idaho, native spent 909 minutes on the field during Conference play, the most for any Bronco forward.
Burton is the first Wyoming player to be tabbed Defensive Player of the Year. The senior started in all ten Conference matches for the Cowgirls, playing in 1,051 minutes out of a possible 1,062 minutes in league action. Burton led the Cowgirls to four shutouts against Utah State (Sept. 28), Fresno State (Oct. 12), Nevada (Oct. 19) and Colorado State (Oct. 26), while also tallying six shots on goal.
Fuentes becomes the first San Diego State student-athlete to garner the MW Newcomer/Freshman of the Year honor. Fuentes led the Aztecs in goals (3), points (7) and shot-on-goal percentage (.714, 10-of-14) in 2018. The 5-foot-3 midfielder also tied for the second most assists (1) on the team. A native of Newark, California, Fuentes registered a career-high in points (3) in SDSU’s 5-0 shutout against Air Force on Oct. 21, where she scored a late goal and tacked on an assist.
Thomas picks up the first Coach of the Year award for the Broncos since joining the Conference in 2011. Thomas has led Boise State to a 7-2-2 record in MW play (13-4-2 overall). The Broncos’ 13 wins is a regular-season program record and ties for the most wins in a single season overall (regular and postseason). Now in his sixth season with the Broncos, Thomas is the fastest coach to reach the 60-win mark. Boise State rattled off 10 consecutive wins midway through the 2018 season, marking yet another program record as the longest unbeaten streak.
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Boise State, which secured the first seed in the 2018 Mountain West Women’s Soccer Championship, leads all teams with seven players honored on the all-conference teams, including three first-team, three second-team and one all-newcomer honorees.
The 2018 MW Women’s Soccer Championship is set to kickoff on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at Spartan Soccer Field in San Jose, California. All five matches of the six-team, single-elimination tournament will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network on Stadium and Facebook. For more information on the championship, visit the 2018 MW Women’s Soccer Championship Central page.
2018 Mountain West Individual Awards
Offensive Player of the Year: Raimee Sherle, Jr., F, Boise State
Defensive Player of the Year: Taylor Burton, Sr., D, Wyoming
Newcomer of the Year: Laura Fuentes, Fr., Midfielder, San Diego State
Coach of the Year: Jim Thomas, Boise State
2018 Mountain West Women’s Soccer All-Conference First Team
Name Class Position Team
Addison Standlee Sr. D Boise State
McKenna Kynett Jr. MF Boise State
Raimee Sherle Jr. F Boise State
Lauren Milliet Sr. MF Colorado College
Gwen Maly So. F New Mexico
Jennifer Munoz Sr. MF New Mexico
Jessie Hix Jr. MF New Mexico
Darriell Franklin Sr. F San José State
Kristen Amarikwa Jr. D San José State
Paige Simoneau Sr. GK San José State
Taylor Burton Sr. D Wyoming
2018 Mountain West Women’s Soccer All-Conference Second Team
Name Class Position Team
Jennifer Hiddink Sr. GK Air Force
Aubree Chatterton So. F Boise State
Eva Herrera Sr. D Boise State
Michelle Reed Sr. MF Boise State
Kelli Sullivan Sr. D Colorado College
Ele Avery So. F Fresno State
Alesia Garcia Fr. F New Mexico
Jessica Nelson Sr. D New Mexico
Laura Fuentes Fr. MF San Diego State
Jada Wilson Fr. D San Jose State
Ashley Cardozo So. MF Utah State
Annika Clayton Sr. MF Wyoming
2018 Mountain West Women’s Soccer All-Newcomer Team
Name Class Position Team
Keelyn Osoba Fr. D Air Force
Macie Nelson Fr. D Boise State
Kiley Suter Fr. F Colorado College
Alesia Garcia Fr. F New Mexico
Kendal Stovall Fr. GK Nevada
Kylie Minamishin Fr. MF Nevada
Laura Fuentes Fr. MF San Diego State
Hannah Mathews Fr. D San Jose State
Jada Wilson Fr. F San Jose State
Taylor Clark Fr. MF UNLV
Savannah Warner Fr. D Wyoming
