ST. LOUIS – Three Missouri State women’s soccer players earned Missouri Valley Conference yearly specialty honors, with Grace O’Keefe winning Player of the Year, Carly Raunig taking home Defensive Player of the Year and Hailey Chambliss grabbing Freshman of the Year, the league announced today. In total, MSU earned eight selections to All-MVC teams.
After more than tripling its conference win total (seven) from last year (two), MSU brought home three out of the six specialty awards for the conference. This was the second time in program history MoState had a Player of the Year representative and the first since Samantha Aguilar in 2009. The Defensive Player of the Year selection marked MSU’s first since 2013 and ninth overall, and the Freshman of the Year award was the Bears’ first since 2006 and third overall. O’Keefe, Raunig and Chambliss were all also named first-team all-conference.
Selected to the second team were Abby Couch and Gabbi Schlapper, and third team members were Camielle Day and Kyli Jackson.
Rounding out the season accolades for the Bears was Joey Fosnow who was selected to the all-freshman squad alongside Schlapper and Chambliss.
At the end of the regular season, O’Keefe (So., F, Overland Park, Kan.) is tied for sixth in the Missouri Valley Conference in points (11) and goals (four) and ranks third in the conference in shots (37), leading all Bears in this category. A Preseason All-MVC selection, O’Keefe started 17 out of 18 games for Missouri State, picking up game-winning scores in two decisive conference wins – versus Evansville on Sept. 18 and at Belmont on Oct. 9. Offensive production for the Bears often begins with O’Keefe, as she also co-leads the Bears in assists (three) and takes most corner kicks when on the field for MoState.
After a relatively quiet non-conference slate, Chambliss (Fr., F/M, Eureka, Mo.) caught lightning in a bottle once conference play began. The freshman accounted for six goals in the Bears’ last seven regular season contests, pushing her to second most in the MVC on the season. In four different instances, Chambliss scored all the goals for Missouri State in a win, including a two-goal performance on Sept. 29 at Southern Illinois. Chambliss started 14 out of 18 matches for the Bears and also recorded two assists on the year.
Helping anchor a Missouri State defense that pitched shutouts in seven out of its 10 conference matchups, Raunig (Jr., D, Olathe, Kan.) was a symbol of consistency for the Bears. Raunig started every match this season for MoState and played the full 90 minutes in nine matches this year. Raunig takes a majority of the throw-ins for the Bears and is also active on the offensive side of the ball, co-leading MoState in assists with three on the year.
Starting every match for the Bears this season, Couch (Jr., M, Kearney, Mo.) has two assists and 13 points on the season. Both assists came at crucial times, resulting in game-winning goals for the Bears on Sept. 4 at Oral Roberts and on Oct. 13 versus Indiana State. Couch rarely sees the sideline, playing the full 90 minutes in eight out of 10 MVC games this season.
Schlapper (Fr., D, St. Charles, Mo.) was an integral part of a standout MSU freshman class. A jack-of-all-trades player, Schlapper started 14 out of 18 matches this season and saw time as a defender, midfielder and forward. Schlapper was a key component in the Bears’ seven conference shutouts and was also a lurking threat offensively, with five out of her six shots on the season being on target, including three shots on goal on Sept. 4 at ORU.
Day (Jr., GK, Dardenne Prairie, Mo.) has posted eight shutouts on the season, tied for the most in the MVC and 25th nationally. From Sept. 18-29, during a four-game span in which MSU allowed just one goal, Day started every match, recording nine saves in the process. She is one shutout away from tying the MSU record for shutouts in a season, set by Jennifer Grocki in 2000.
Jackson (Sr., D, Overland Park, Kan.) played the full 90 minutes for the Bears in eight consecutive matches this year (9/22/22 – 10/16/22). She helped anchor an MoState defense that has produced 10 shutouts with a shutout percentage of .556, tied for 30th-best in the nation. Jackson also leads all Bears in minutes on the year with 1,541.
Fosnow (Fr., F, Lee’s Summit, Mo.) is another standout freshman for MSU, leading the Bears in shots on goal on the season with 20 and accounting for a shot accuracy of .588. Fosnow netted her first career collegiate goal on Aug. 25 against SEMO and followed it up with goals in back-to-back road games on Sept. 22 and Sept. 25 versus Drake and UNI. She also picked up an assist on Sept. 4 against ORU.
After the announcement of The Valley awards, No. 2-seeded MoState continues preparation for its MVC semifinals matchup with No. 6-seeded UNI Thursday at 3 p.m. in Valparaiso, Ind.
