Women’s Soccer Quartet Earns All-Conference; Saber Named Coach Of The Year
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pennsylvania -- Four Penn State Brandywine women's soccer standouts were selected to the Penn State University Athletic Conference all-conference teams, including three that earned first team recognition, while Head Coach Sharif Saber garnered conference coach of the year honors the league announced on Tuesday.
Juniors Olivia Encarnacion (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) and Mary Mitcheli (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) and freshman Ami Iannello (Media, Pa./Strath Haven) were each first team selections and freshman Amber Phillips (Brookhaven, Pa./The Christian Academy) claimed second team recognition.
Saber guided Brandywine to a 7-2-1 record during the regular season and first-place finish in the PSUAC during the Lions' inaugural year as a varsity team. Brandywine went unbeaten during its final six conference matches (5-0-1) to claim the top seed in the PSUAC Championship with a 6-1-1 league record. The Lions will face either Penn State Beaver or Penn State Schuylkill on Sunday in State College in the first PSUAC women's soccer title game (2:00 pm).
Encarnacion produced a team-best 22 points, finishing fourth in the conference in both total points and goals (10), while adding a pair of assists. She netted at least one goal in five-of-eight PSUAC matches, including multi-goal efforts against Mont Alto and Beaver to begin the season. On Oct. 13, she recorded the first hat trick in Brandywine women's soccer history, scoring three times in a 5-2 triumph at Valley Forge.
Mitcheli was Brandywine's fourth-leading scorer during the regular season with four goals and one assist for nine points. Mitcheli's overtime goal against Schuylkill, one of her two game winners during the year, helped Brandywine claim a key 2-1 conference road victory on Oct. 7, the first of three-consecutive wins for the Lions. During the Lions' six-game unbeaten streak against PSUAC teams, Mitcheli tallied goals in four of those contests.
A starter in nine games during her rookie campaign, Iannello finished second on the team and tied for eighth in the conference with 14 points. She scored the game-winning goal in a 1-0 victory over Schuylkill on Sept. 23 and netted both goals in a 2-1 triumph at Mont Alto one month later. Overall, Iannello collected six goals and tied for the team lead with a pair of assists.
Phillips, who appeared in all 10 games, anchored a Brandywine defense that allowed the fewest goals goals per game (1.58) in the conference. Lions' defenders allowed just 8.3 shots on goal per game in eight conference matches and helped to secure shutout victories against Schuylkill and Beaver.
