IRVING, Texas – The American Conference has announced the 2025 women’s soccer honors. Regular season champion Memphis captured six awards.
Tiger junior forward Ashley Henderson was named Offensive Player of the Year, while junior defender Finley Lavin repeated as Defensive Player of the Year. Sophomore Ai Kitagawa was named Midfielder of the Year, while fellow sophomore Abby Kudla was tabbed Goalkeeper of the Year. Forward Ellis Kelly and Rice defender Jadyn Jaeger were honored with Freshman of the Year awards, while the Memphis coaching staff was voted by their peers as the Coaching Staff of the Year.
Henderson leads the American with 19 points in conference play with seven goals and five assists. She has 24 points overall on nine goals and six assists. She is the third Tiger to earn Offensive Player of the Year, joining Mya Jones in 2023 and Clarissa Larisey in 2019.
Lavin and Kudla aided the Tiger defense in allowing only three goals in 10 conference matches. Lavin is the first player in the American to repeat as Defensive Player of the Year since Ashley Barron of Cincinnati won the award three straight years from 2020-22. Kulda is the third Tiger to win Goalkeeper of the Year, joining Kaylie Bierman in 2023 and Elizabeth Moberg in 2019.
Kitagawa has eight goals and three assists on the season and becomes the fourth Tiger to earn Midfield of the Year honors. She is also the fourth player in American history to earn an individual award after winning the Freshman of the Year, which she won in 2024.
Kelly recorded five goals and four assists during the regular season, while Jaeger helped lead the Rice defense to a 1.47 goals-against average while also providing two goals and four assists. Kelly becomes the sixth Tiger to earn Freshman of the Year accolades, while Jaeger is the second Owl player to earn an individual honor in the American, joining Leah Chancey, who won Offensive Player of the Year in 2024.
Tiger head coach Brooks Monaghan and his staff led Memphis to a 15-0-2 record in the regular season, 9-0-1 in conference play and to a No. 3 ranking in the current United Soccer Coaches poll. It is the third time the Tiger staff has been honored.
Temple earned the Team Fair Play Award for having the fewest fouls, yellow cards and red cards during conference play.
Offensive Player of the Year
Ashley Henderson, Jr., F, Memphis
Defensive Player of the Year
Finley Lavin, Jr., D, Memphis
Midfielder of the Year
Ai Kitagawa, So., Memphis*
Goalkeeper of the Year
Abby Kudla, So., Memphis
Freshman of the Year
Ellis Kelly, F, Memphis
Jadyn Jaeger, D, Rice
Coaching Staff of the Year
Memphis (Head Coach Brooks Monaghan, Associate Head Coaches Jonny Walker and Rocky Sasitharan, and Assistant Coach Ted Bartels)
Team Fair Play Award
Temple
All-Conference First Team
Lailah Stewart, Jr., F, UAB
Megan Bradley, Sr., F, Charlotte
Flavie Dube, Sr., M, Memphis
Ashley Henderson, Jr., F, Memphis*
Ai Kitagawa, So., M, Memphis*
Abby Kudla, So., GK, Memphis
Finley Lavin, Jr., D, Memphis*
Leah Chancey, Gr., M, Rice
Gentiana Fetaj, Gr., M, South Florida
Sadie Sider-Echenberg, Sr., M, South Florida
Kameron Kloza, R-Sr., D, UTSA
Jordan Frederick, Sr., F, Tulsa
All-Conference Second Team
Avery Berryman, Jr., F, UAB
Amelia Brown, Sr., M, Charlotte
Evie Craven, Jr., M, Charlotte
Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram, So., F, East Carolina
Isabella Gutierrez, Sr., M, East Carolina
Michelle Horan, Sr., F, Florida Atlantic
Ally Casey, So., D, Memphis
Elise Perron, So., F, Memphis
Mia Bernard, M, North Texas
Yui Suetsugu, Jr., F, South Florida
Jasmine Kessler, Jr., GK, UTSA
Blaine Schutte, So., F, Tulsa
All-Conference Third Team
Ava Mills, Jr., D, UAB
Naroa Domenech, Sr., F, Charlotte
Harlee Head, R-Jr., GK, Charlotte
Hailey Santiago, So., F, Florida Atlantic
Mihiro Furuya, Fr., F, Memphis
Alex Mackay, So., F, Memphis
Evelyn Mackay, So., D, Memphis
Naija Bruckner, Sr., M, Rice
Lilly Reuscher, So., D, Rice
Val Bitterwolf, Fr., M, Temple
Zoe May, Sr., M, UTSA
Maggie SymSmith, Sr., M, Tulsa
All-Freshman Team
Rory Brown, D, Charlotte
Gia Spinetti, D, East Carolina
Isabel Bostic, M, Florida Atlantic
Mihiro Furuya, F, Memphis*
Ellis Kelly, F, Memphis*
Yuna Nagata, M, Memphis
Lillian Vandiver, D, North Texas
Jadyn Jaeger, D, Rice
Emily Lemke, F, South Florida
Val Bitterwolf, M, Temple*
Brooklyn Bailey, F, UTSA
* denotes unanimous selection