SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – The Spring Arbor University women’s soccer team was honored by the Crossroads League with six All-League performers, highlighted by freshman Bethany Balcer who was named the Player of the Year.
Additionally, head coach Jason Crist was recognized as the league’s Coach of the Year after guiding his squad to a perfect 9-0 conference record and their fifth consecutive regular season championship.
Balcer has wasted no time making her mark on the Crossroads League becoming the first freshman to ever earn the league’s highest honor. She has also been selected as the conference Offensive Player of the Week five times this season. The Hudsonville, Michigan native has registered 56 points on 22 goals and 12 assists in her rookie campaign. She not only paces the team in all three categories, but ranks first in the conference. She is currently nine points shy of the program’s single-season record (65), established by Maegan Smith in 2011, and is three goals away from matching the single-season mark set by Katie Sayler and Smith.
Balcer currently leads the nation with nine game-winning goals while also ranking in the top 10 in shots per game (8.37), points, goals and assists.
Joining Balcer on the All-Crossroads League Team were sophomore Aubrey Schierbeek, junior Corrie Good, senior Shannon Balcer, senior Sarah Yancer and sophomore Sarah Klunder. This is the second straight All-League honor for Schierbeek and Balcer, while Good and Yancer have received the accolade in each of the last three seasons.
Schierbeek and Good helped fuel the league’s most explosive offensive team finishing the regular season ranked third and fifth, respectively, in the conference in total points. In spite of missing several matches due to an injury, Schierbeek has surpassed her point total from her freshman season recording 11 goals and 10 assists. Good has been just as effective tallying eight goals while dishing out nine helpers.
While both Balcer and Klunder have made contributions on the offensive end, they, along with Yancer, have been the backbone of a very stout SAU defense this season. Spring Arbor has held opponents scoreless in eight matches this season, and ranks third in the conference in goals against average (0.95). The Cougars have limited teams to less than 10 shots in a game on 16 different occasions. Yancer has made 49 saves and been credited with five clean sheets, giving her a program record 32 career shutouts.
Spring Arbor (16-2-1, 9-0-0 CL) will face Indiana Wesleyan University (9-8-1, 4-4-1 CL) in the Crossroads League Tournament Semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 3 p.m.