Five Seasiders Earn All-Conference Honors

Laie, HI—Brigham Young University Hawaii’s women’s soccer team landed five players on the Pacific West Conference All-Conference teams announced this week.  Two Seasiders received First-Team accolades while three others were named to the conference second team.

Junior forward Emily Mearns and junior midfielder Natasha Aiono were both accorded First-Team honors.  Mearns, from San Ramon, California, racked up her third All-PacWest First Team selection for the Seasiders after taking her first two in 2008 and 2006.  In 18 games, Mearns amassed a league-leading 31 points on 13 goals and five assists.  She topped the PacWest in putting the ball in the net, tied for fifth in helping others score, and shared the conference lead in game-winners with five. She also led the PacWest in points per game (1.72) and goals per game (0.72), while tying for ninth in assists per contest (0.28).

Aiono, from South Jordan, Utah, made her third straight All-PacWest squad.  She was an Honorable Mention as a rookie in 2007 and was named First Team and PacWest Player of the Year in 2008.  This season in 18 games, Aiono tied for fifth in the conference in goals scored (8), shared eighth place in assists (5), and ranked fourth in total points (21).  She also tied for fourth in game-winners with three, ranked fifth in points per game (1.17), tied for fifth in goals per game (0.44), and tied for ninth in assists per contest (0.28).

Raking in Second Team honors for BYU–Hawaii were junior goalie Becky Ploeger, sophomore forward Margaret Sekona, and junior defender Kim Herrera.  Ploeger was a Second Team choice after earning All-PacWest Goalie of the Year and First Team selections in 2007 and 2008.  She was outstanding in net this season with a PacWest-leading 0.47 goals against average and a league-best 15 victories on a 15-2-0 record.  She also topped the conference in shutouts (10), save percentage (.843) and shutouts per game (0.59). She played 1522:13 minutes and totaled 43 saves (8th) with a 2.53 saves-per-game average (8th).  Ploeger finished the season with four school records, including shutouts (10), goals-against average (.47), save percentage (.843), and goalie wins (15).

Sekona, from Juneau, Alaska, joined Mearns as an All-PacWest Forward after being selected to the Second Team. She totaled 14 points on six goals and two assists with one game-winner. This marks her second All-PacWest selection after making the squad as an Honorable Mention in 2008.
 
Herrera, from Manteca, California, was an All-PacWest Second Team selection at defender.  Herrera contributed four assists and four points in 18 games, while the BYU-Hawaii defense allowed just 10 goals and a 0.56 goals against average.

Complete Team