ANNVILLE, Pa. – On Thursday morning, the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) announced their women's soccer All-Conference teams and of the year award winners. The Messiah women's soccer team was featured prominently on the MAC Commonwealth All-Conference teams with nine selections in total, including six of the 11 First Team members. The Falcons swept the student-athlete portion of the annual awards with
Rachael Tirjan,
Kristina Akselsen, and
Julia Martin being named the Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Rookie of the Year, respectively.
Along with their of the Year honors, Tirjan, Akselsen, and Martin all earned spots in the All-MAC Commonwealth's First Team alongside teammates
Brianna Seip,
Kayla Herr, and
Jenna Skurcenski.
Kylie Firestone,
Kenzie Spodnik, and
Shelby Burger were honored with Second Team laurels for the Falcons. Messiah's nine individuals honored were the most in the conference. No other program had more than five student-athletes celebrated.
With the Falcons earning both the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year in the MAC Commonwealth, Messiah has now swept the honors in seven of the nine seasons since the award was split prior to the 2013 season. Previously the Falcons swept the award in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2021.
Martin's Rookie of the Year honor is the 13th in Messiah women's soccer history, but first since 2017 when Lydia Ewing claimed the honor.
A year ago,
Rachael Tirjan was named a Second Team All-Conference honoree. This season she traded that in for both a First Team honor and the Offensive Player of the Year nod. Tirjan leads the Falcons with 11 goals and six assists for 28 total points. She has collected at least one point in 11 of Messiah's 20 games and her goals have come up clutch. On the season, she has seven game-winning goals, the 11th most in the country this season. Two other Messiah forwards earned All-Conference honors on Thursday with
Brianna Seip being named to the First Team and
Kylie Firestone picking up Second Team. Last season Seip earned Offensive Player of the Year honors and this year she repeated her First Team selection with nine goals and a pair of assists.
Firestone was recently named the MAC Commonwealth Tournament Most Valuable Player after scoring two goals and adding an assist in the Tournament. On the season she has netted nine goals, added five assists, and has a trio of multi-goal games. Her Second Team honor this season is the first All-Conference honor of her career.
In the midfield, Messiah earned three All-Conference honors with
Kristina Akselsen and
Kayla Herr picking up First Team honors and
Kenzie Spodnik claiming a spot on the Second Team. Akselsen was named the Conference's Defensive Player of the Year, an award that
Kayla Herr claimed in 2021. Akselsen was celebrated on the Second Team a year ago. This season she has been a steading presence for the Falcons in the center of the field while also pushing forward for three goals, including a tally against Misericordia on Sept. 24 in a 1-1 draw against the now No. 1 team in the country.
As she has been her entire career,
Kayla Herr is a key cog in the center of the Falcons' gameplan. In her fifth year with the program, Herr is a four-time All-Conference honoree, including three First Team honors in 2019, 2021, and 2022. This season, Herr has commanded the midfield alongside Akselsen and Spodnik while netting three goals and adding three assists for the Falcons.
Kenzie Spodnik earned her second-straight All-Conference honor this season, picking up a Second Team accolade. A starter in all 20 games this season, Spodnik is tied for the team lead in assists with six on the year while also scoring a trio of goals. She has a two-goal game to her name, netting a pair against Stevenson on Oct. 5 at home.
Messiah's backline has been stellar all season long and as a result, three Falcons were honored with All-Conference nods.
Julia Martin and
Jenna Skurcenski picked up First Team honors while
Shelby Burger was named Second Team. The 2022 nods for Skurcenski and Burger are their second career honors after both earning First Team accolades in 2021. For Martin, the sophomore transfer still has four years of eligibility remaining and as a result was up for Rookie of the Year honors as well. As a defensive unit, Messiah has allowed just seven goals on the season for a 0.350 goals against average the seventh lowest in the country on the season. Messiah allowed two goals in their season opener and since then have allowed just five in the final 19 games of the season. In their 20 games this season Messiah has 14 shutouts, tied for the fourth most in the country.
In addition to her defensive abilities, Martin has scored six goals for the Falcons this season while adding a pair of assists. Burger has also chipped in on the offensive end, dishing out two assists on the year.
The Falcons are just days away from the NCAA Tournament. Messiah will head to Cortland, N.Y. for the opening weekend hosted by the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons and will play the Penn State-Berks Nittany Lions in the First Round on Saturday at 11:00 a.m.
