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Young Named WHAC's Top Defender, Donnelly Also on First Team

Young Named WHAC's Top Defender, Donnelly Also on First Team
Posted: Nov 05, 2014

Senior defender Kelsey Young was named Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Defensive Player of the Year while she and senior forward Alexis Donnelly garnered All-WHAC First Team accolades, as announced by the league on Wednesday.

A pair of fellow seniors -- midfielders Paige Frey and Carlee Pallett -- were selected as All-WHAC honorable mentions.

With the award, Young became the fourth Saint to win the WHAC's top defender honor -- all of which have been claimed in the past eight years. The other three are Haley Mancini (2010), Lindsey Mancini (2009) and Maggie Vaillancourt (2007).

In 2014, Young anchored a SHU defense that has recorded 13 shutouts and a 0.49 goals-against average thus far. The Saints will have the opportunity to update those totals in the upcoming WHAC Tournament.

Young has started all 18 games, compiling one goal and four assists. She was an All-WHAC honorable mention in 2013.

Donnelly has also started all 18 games, ranking first on the team with seven assists while rating second in goals (8) and points (23). She has four game-winning goals in 2014.

Frey, an All-WHAC First Team performer in 2013, is an 18-game starter with three goals and three assists.

Pallett is now a three-time All-WHAC honorable mention, having already claimed the award in 2011 and 2012. In the current season, she ranks second on the team with five assists while rating third in goals (6) and points (17).

Also for the Saints, junior forward Mikayla Ferer was selected to the WHAC Champions of Character Team.

A total of 14 Saints were recognized on the Academic All-WHAC Team. That group included senior Lynn Hendricks, a three-time honoree; seniors Frey, Pallett, Young, Jori Bitter, Elizabeth Davis, Meg Dubois, Abbey Marlette, Megan Michels and Meagan Mousty, all two-time honorees; and juniors Ferer, Alyssa Huff, Madison Phillips and Kristina Veal.

Bitter, Huff, Mousty and Veal are nursing majors while Davis and Ferer study biology. Hendricks and Michels are majors in psychology.

Future educators may include Pallett, who is a mathematics major; Frey, a mathematics education major; Marlette, a majors in special education and elementary education; and Phillips, a secondary education major.

Also, Dubois is an accounting major and Young majors in criminal justice.