Kansas City, Mo. - The Central Methodist Women's Soccer program landed a conference best seven players on the Heart of America Athletic Conference Women's Soccer All-Conference First Team, highlighted by three superlative award winners.
Sandra Jakobsen was named the Heart Player and Offensive Player of the Year, Laura Riesenbeck Defensive Player of the Year, and Head Coach Dan Schmidlin Heart Co-Coach of the Year.
Jakobsen was named both the Heart Player and Offensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. The junior from Svenborg, Denmark has appeared and started in all 18 regular season games for the Eagles. She has tallied 11 goals including two games winners and dished out a team best eight assists in 2022. Jakobsen was also named to the Heart All-Conference First Team for the third-straight season.
Riesenbeck is now a three-time Heart Defensive Player of the Year selection, becoming the first three-time winner in the last 20 years. Central has had a player named Defensive Player of the Year in five of the past six seasons, including the last four dating back to the 2019 season. Riesenbeck has started all 18 of Central's regular-season games this season, anchoring Central's backline to 10 shut outs. The Beverstedt, Germany native has tallied five goals and six assists and was named to the Heart All-Conference First Team for the third-straight season. She is now a four-time Heart All-Conference selection.
Schmidlin was named the Heart Co-Coach of the Year along with Bryce McClanahan of MidAmerica Nazarene University. It marks Schmidlin's third Coach of the Year honor of his career, as he was also recognized in 2017 and 2019. He led Central to its fourth-consecutive Heart Regular Season Championship in 2022 with a conference record of 11-0-1.
Junior defender Alicia Zamora was also named to the Heart All-Conference First Team, joining Riesenbeck on the defensive backline that recorded 10 shut outs in the regular season. Zamora has appeared and started in all 18 games for CMU. She is now a two-time Heart First Team All-Conference selection.
2021 Heart Freshman of the Year Marcella Helena landed on the First Team for the second-straight season, finishing second on the team with 13 goals including four game winners. She also dished out five assists for a total of 31 points.
Senior midfielder Maria Cervello was named to the First Team after earning second team honors as a junior. Cervello has appeared and started in all 18 games in the regular season, scoring two goals and tying for the team lead with eight assists.
Senior forward Roneisha Frank was also named to the Frrst Team after being named a second team member in 2021. The native of St. George's Grenada scored a team-leading 17 goals paired with two assists this season. Five of those 17 goals were game winners, and Frank's best game came against Park on Oct. 8 when she scored a hat trick.
Junior goalkeeper Judit Gonzalez Oliveras rounds out the Heart First Team All-Conference selections for Central. Gonzalez Oliveras finished the year with a 12-2-1 record, including four shut outs through 15 starts. The native of Barcelona, Spain finished the year with 29 saves and a .763 save percentage.
The Eagles have advanced to the Heart Tournament Semifinals for the sixth consecutive season. Central will host No. 5 seeded Clarke University in the semifinals, Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 5:00 p.m. at Davis Field.
To view the conference release of the 2022 Heart Women's Soccer All-Conference teams, please click here.
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