Southeast Missouri?s Crabtree and UT Martin?s Govea Headline 2011 OVC Soccer Postseason Awards

Southeast Missouri?s Crabtree and UT Martin?s Govea Headline 2011 OVC Soccer Postseason Awards

Southeast Missouri's Jessie Crabtree was named the 2011 Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the year while UT Martin's Melissa Govea earned Defensive Player of the Year accolades as voted on by the league's head coaches and sports information directors. Southeast Missouri's Erin Shulman was selected as the Freshman of the Year and the Redhawks' Heather Nelson was named Coach of the Year.

Crabtree, a native of Marion, Ill., ranks second in the league with 20 points and eight goals while also adding four assists. In conference play, Crabtree paced the league with 14 points, five goals and four assists. The senior forward has had two multi-goal games this season with the most recent coming against Jacksonville State. In addition to being named the Offensive Player of the  Year, the Missouri transfer was selected to the All-OVC First Team and All-Newcomer squad. Crabtree is the fourth Redhawk to earn this honor and first since Courney Alexander won the award in 2007.

Govea, a senior defender, was part of a defense that recorded six shutouts on the year. In conference action, Govea and the Skyhawks allowed nine goals over nine games and posted three shutouts. She has made 19 starts and played 1,622 minutes so far this year for the Skyhawks. The native of Hendersonville, Tenn., recorded three assists and one goal in the regular-season. Govea was also named to the 2011 All-OVC First Team. She is the second Skyhawk to earn Defensive Player of the Year accolades joining Danielle Rogers, who won the award in 2009.

A freshman forward, Shulman finished the regular-season ranking second in the league with nine goals and 1.38 points per game while ranking fourth with 18 total points. In conference action, the Bloomington, Ill., native scored four goals to finish second in the OVC. She had two multi-score games, with the most recent coming against Austin Peay. She saw action in 13 games while making 11 starts so far this year. In addition to be named the Freshman of the Year, Shulman was also selected to the All-OVC First Team and All-Newcomer squad. She is the second Redhawk to earn this honor joining Ashley Runion who won the award in 2007.

Nelson earns her fourth OVC Coach of the Year honor and first since 2007. She led her team to a 12-5-1 overall mark while going 8-1 in the OVC to claim its fourth regular-season crown and first since 2007. The Redhawks scored 21 goals in OVC play while allowing just four scores. Over the 18 matches this season, Southeast Missouri has given up just 14 goals and has scored 34.

Southeast Missouri had the most All-OVC First Team selections with five followed by UT Martin and Murray State with a pair of picks while Morehead State and Austin Peay each had one selection. Joining Crabtree, Govea and Shulman on the first team were: Southeast Missouri sophomore goalkeeper Ashton Aubuchon (Florissant, Mo.), senior defender Nikki Edwards (Calgary, Alberta)  and senior midfielder Lauren Bozesky (St. Louis, Mo.); Murray State senior defender Sophie Hargreaves (Leeds, England); and freshman midfielder Julie Mooney (St. Peters, Mo.); Morehead State senior midfielder Brittany Kiracofe (Ottawa, Ohio); UT Martin senior midfielder Brooke Robertson (Olathe, Kan.); and Austin Peay sophomore forward Tatiana Ariza (Bogota, Colombia)

Earning second team honors were: Eastern Kentucky freshman goalkeeper Annie Wickett (Fredrick, Md.), sophomore defender Lauren Fant (Rochester Hills, Mich.) and junior defender Deja Tennon (Centerville, Ohio); Austin Peay sophomore midfielder Natalia Ariza (Bogota, Colombia) and junior forward Emily Perkins (Nashville, Tenn.); Jacksonville State junior goalkeeper Katelyn Geddings (Warrior, Ala.) and senior midfielder Chelsea Pelletier (Fort Worth, Texas); Eastern Illinois junior forward Kristin Germann (Carbondale, Ill.); Southeast Missouri senior midfielder Vanessa Hart (Dubbo, Australia); SIUE sophomore forward Meagan Iffirg (St. Charles, Mo.); and Tennessee Tech junior defender Leigh Heffner (Arvada, Colo.).

Eleven student-athletes make up the 2011 OVC All-Newcomer team, which consists of freshmen, redshirt freshmen, transfers or other first-year players.  In addition to Crabtree and Shulman, All-Newcomer selections include: Eastern Kentucky freshman goalkeeper Annie Wickett (Fredrick, Md.) and freshman defender Paige Larkin (Cerrtos, Calif.); UT Martin freshman defender Amy Maksimowicz (Nashville, Tenn.); and junior midfielder Midori Sera (San Francisco, Calif.); Austin Peay junior forward Emily Perkins (Nashville, Tenn.); Eastern Illinois freshman midfielder Meagan Radloff (West Chicago, Ill.); Morehead State redshirt freshman forward Holly Tilley (Columbus, Ohio); Murray State freshman midfielder Julie Mooney (St. Peters, Mo.); and SIUE freshman forward Michelle Auer (St. Louis, Mo.)

2011 ALL-OHIO VALLEY CONFERENCE WOMEN'S SOCCER TEAMS
(As selected by OVC women's soccer coaches and sports information directors)

FIRST TEAM
GK - Ashton Aubuchon, Southeast Missouri
D - Melissa Govea, UT Martin
D - Sophie Hargreaves, Murray State     
D - Nikki Edwards, Southeast Missouri
MF - Lauren Bozesky, Southeast Missouri
MF - Brittany Kiracofe, Morehead State
MF - Julie Mooney, Murray State
MF - Brooke Robertson, UT Martin
F - Tatiana Ariza, Austin Peay
F -Jessie Crabtree, Southeast Missouri
F - Erin Shulman, Southeast Missouri

2011 OVC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jessie Crabtree, Southeast Missouri
2011 OVC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
: Melissa Govea, UT Martin
2011 OVC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:
  Erin Shulman, Southeast Missouri
2011 OVC COACH OF THE YEAR:
  Heather Nelson, Southeast Missouri

SECOND TEAM
GK - Annie Wickett, Eastern Kentucky
GK - Katelyn Geddings, Jacksonville State
D - Lauren Fant, Eastern Kentucky
D - Leigh Heffner, Tennessee Tech
D - Deja Tennon, Eastern Kentucky
MF - Natalia Ariza, Austin Peay
MF - Chelsea Pelletier, Jacksonville State
MF - Vanessa Hart, Southeast Missouri
F - Kristin Germann, Eastern Illinois
F - Meagan Iffrig, SIUE
F - Emily Perkins, Austin Peay

ALL-NEWCOMER
F - Erin Shulman, Southeast Missouri
F - Jessie Crabtree, Southeast Missouri
MF - Julie Mooney, Murray State
GK -Annie Wickett, Eastern Kentucky
F - Emily Perkins, Austin Peay
F - Holly Tilley, Morehead State
D - Amy Maksimowicz, UT Martin
F - Michelle Auer, SIUE
MF - Midori Sera, UT Martin      
MF - Meagan Radloff, Eastern Illinois
D - Paige Larkin, Eastern Kentucky