Following the best season in program history, the Valparaiso women’s soccer team had four players named to the NSCAA/Continental Tire All-Great Lakes Region teams, highlighted by the selection of junior Rita Craven (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) to the All-Region First Team.

Joining Craven as All-Region honorees were junior Jenny Fassbinder (Hudson, Wis./Hudson) and sophomores Shelby Oelschlager (Glendale, Ariz./Mountain Ridge) and April Cronin (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South), all of whom earned Second Team All-Region accolades.  The quartet of honorees was Valpo’s first All-Region selections since Jackie Thomas was named a Second Team All-Region honoree following the 2008 campaign.

Craven earned First Team honors after being named Horizon League Player of the Year and Horizon League Offensive Player of the Year, leading the Crusaders to an undefeated league campaign and a school-record 14 victories.  Craven tallied five goals, four of which were match-winners, and three assists, finishing in a tie for second on the team with 13 points.  The box-to-box midfielder matched Valpo’s single-season record with her four match-winning goals and now owns seven career match-winners, tied for second-most in program history.

Fassbinder and Oelschlager, a Second Team All-League recipient, helped anchor a Crusader defense which ranked among the top-five nationally all season long.  The duo spent the most time on the field of any Valpo field players this season – Oelschlager 1,817 of 1,892 minutes; Fassbinder 1,777 minutes – as the Crusaders surrendered just nine goals in 20 matches.  Valpo ranks fifth nationally in goals against average and posted a school-record 12 shutouts on the year.

Cronin joined the defensive duo on the Second Team after a stellar offensive campaign.  The sophomore – a First Team All-League honoree - netted a team-best nine goals, ranking second in the Horizon League.  Cronin scored all nine of her goals in a 12-game stretch, culminating with the match-winning goal in both the Horizon League Championship semifinal and title match as she was named Tournament MVP.  The sophomore also tallied a pair of assists on the year, finishing with 20 points – the highest total by a Crusader since 2006.