Southeast soccer players earn OVC honors at banquet

Freshman goalkeeper Kindra Lierz headlined a group of five Southeast Missouri State soccer players to earn All-Ohio Valley Conference honors, which were announced at the OVC soccer championship banquet Wednesday night.

Lierz was named the Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, which marks the first time the awards have been won by the same player in the same season. She was also a first-team all-conference and all-newcomer selection.

Lierz's 0.69 goals against average, eight shutouts and average of 0.50 shutouts per game were tops in the conference. She allowed 11 goals all season and had 64 saves en route to being Southeast's sixth player to win the top defensive honor.

Sophomore forward Natasha Minor joined Lierz as first-team all-conference. Minor ranked second in the conference in goals (7) and points (18) during conference play.

Senior forward Breana Beine and sophomore defender Christina Rohde were second-team all-OVC selections.

Beine finished the season with seven goals and four assists. Rohde anchored a Redhawks defense that also featured all-newcomer team member Valeria Jaramillo. The junior defender has started all 16 games for the Redhawks defense after transferring from Texas A&M International.

UT-Martin's Rianna Jarrett was selected as the Offensive Player of the Year. She leads the conference and is fourth in the nation with 17 goals as well as ranking ninth in points with 38.

Jacksonville State coach Neil Macdonald was named the conference's Coach of the Year. The Gamecocks finished 6-4 in conference for the No. 5 seed in the OVC tournament. It is the first time Jacksonville State has secured a spot in the conference tournament since 2005.