ALVA, Okla. – After receiving Honorable Mention Honors by the Great American Conference on Nov. 13, redshirt-senior Kaley Whitworth received another accolade to add to her resume, early Wednesday morning when she made the D2CCA All-Central Region Second Team. She is one of seven GAC players to be on the first or second team while being one of three on the second team.
"It's great, I think the GAC is often looked down on in the three conferences in this region," Head Coach Erik Solberg said on the conference player's recognition. "I think we have some really quality players,” he said, adding that he's “happy for our conference, happy for our program. GAC soccer is competitive, and very strong. There were five or six teams that on their day could have won this league this year. Says a lot of individual quality along with the depth we have in the league."
The senior from Forney, Texas, played in all 18 games while starting in the final 16 games. Whitworth finished the season with 54 shots, which was good for fifth in the conference. She finished the year with five goals equaling ten points on the season while totaling 1406 minutes on the season. She played the entirety in 10 of those 18 games played, which was ten more games than she played in the previous season.
"Yeah, obviously I am delighted,” said Solberg. “It shows what a good season we had as a team even if we didn't earn postseason accolades as a team. It shows how good of a team we were and shows we were a really solid team. Super happy for Kaley; it is easy for midfielders to get lost in the shuffle, but glad people noticed her as a player and the work she put in because it would not have been the same team without her this year. I'm really proud, really pleased with her and very happy for the program to get a reward in this way. (It) signifies the change in the culture and the upward trajectory, so I am really happy for her."
Whitworth showed tremendous improvement this season setting career highs in goals, points, shots, games and minutes played. She scored two goals in the 11-0 win against Oklahoma Panhandle State University along with setting the NWOSU record with most shots in a game with 10 in that match. She ended the season with two goals in as many games played during the final week of the season, in an overtime loss to Oklahoma Baptist and a win over Southern Nazarene, to conclude one of the most successful seasons Northwestern has had in the Division II era.
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