KANSAS CITY--Five WAC women's soccer players have been named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America/Continental Tire All-West Region team. Seattle U's Monique Escalera, Stephanie Verdoia and Julia Besagno, along with Bakersfield's Erica Shelton and Kansas City's Taylor Bare each earned all-region honors.
Escalera and Verdoia were named to the West Region's second team, while Bare, Besagno and Shelton earned third team honors.
Verdoia, the Western Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Year, led the league in shots, points, assists, and goals in 2013, and was one of just 10 NCAA Division I women’s soccer players to record double digits in both goals and assists through play prior to the NCAA Tournament. Among her other accolades, she was named to the WAC All-Tournament Team and tied for ninth in the nation in total assists. Also excelling academically, Verdoia was named a Capital One Academic All-American.
Escalera, who was named MVP of the WAC Tournament, was also named First Team All-Conference in 2013. She anchored the Redhawk backline that recorded seven straight shutouts, 11 total, in 2013. Under her leadership, the defense also allowed just three goals over a 12 game span dating from Sept. 20-Nov. 1 and helped Seattle U become just the fourth team in WAC history to record a perfect record in conference play.
Besagno, a 2013 co-captain with Verdoia, was named First Team All-Conference and to the All-Tournament team, also named WAC Player of the Week (Oct. 21-27) after scoring three goals in a pair of wins at New Mexico State and Kansas City. On Oct. 25, she scored two goals, including the game-winner at UMKC, her first career two-goal match. Besagno was also one of three Redhawks voted as a Capital One Academic All-American in 2013 for her excellence both on the field and in the classroom.
Bare received third-team honors after scoring a WAC-best 15 goals, including six game-winners in 2013. Bare led UMKC to an 8-4 conference mark and WAC Championship appearance.She finishes her career with school records for goals (32), assists (8), points (66), and game-winning goals (12). She broke school single-game records for goals (3) and points (6) during her senior campaign.
Shelton is the first Roadrunner to earn All-Region honors since the program transitoned to the Division I level. A first team All-Conference selection, Shelton led Bakersfield with four goals, five assists, and 13 points in 2013. She also led the team in shots (39) and gamewinning goals (2).Shelton is the first CSUB player to earn any All-Region honor since 2002 (Allison Doom, second team).