Four Women’s Soccer Programs Secure Major Honors

INDIANAPOLIS – Rockhurst senior forward Anna Lantz, Missouri-St. Louis junior defender Taylor Martin, Drury junior goalkeeper Katy Fitzler, Maryville freshman midfielder Sophia Carter, and Missouri-St. Louis coach Stephen Cavallo have earned major postseason honors for the 2025 Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Women's Soccer season, the league office announced on Tuesday.
 
Lantz was named Offensive Player of the Year, Martin earned Defensive Player of the Year, Fitzler claimed Goalkeeper of the Year, Carter garnered Freshman of the Year, and Cavallo was dubbed Coach of the Year by her peers. In total, 33 student-athletes claimed All-Conference honors, while 15 were chosen as GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship honorees for the sport and Illinois Springfield was selected as the team sportsmanship award winner.

The All-Conference awards are nominated and voted on by league coaches, who, per GLVC Bylaws, are not permitted to vote for their own players.
 
 
Offensive Player of the Year: Anna Lantz, Senior, Forward, Rockhurst

• Join's Becky Fleming as the second ever two-time Offensive Player of the Year
  • Becomes Rockhurst's fifth Offensive Player of the Year and tenth overall major award winner
• Led the league in goals (17), goals per game (.944), points (39), and points per game (2.17).
  • Added five assists, and three game-winning goals on 75 shots (42 on goal).
• Led league in GLVC-only games in goals (16), goals per game (1.143), points (37), points per game (2.64), and shots on goal (33).
  • Finished second in total shots (61), tied for fourth in assists (5), and tied for fifth in game-winning goals (3).
• Named GLVC Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 29 and Nov. 3.
• Helped Hawks secure No. 6 seed in GLVC Championship Tournament.
• Earns her fourth-straight All-Conference honor with all being on the First Team.

 
Defensive Player of the Year: Taylor Martin, Junior, Defender, Missouri-St. Louis

• Becomes Missouri-St. Louis's first-ever Defensive Player of the Year.
  • Joins Coach Stephen Cavallo as the first two overall major award winners for Missouri-St. Louis.
• Started 18 games on the backline, registering 1,539 minutes, helping Missouri-St. Louis hold opponents to ten goals while recording ten shutouts in the games she played.
  • Allowed only six goals in 14 GLVC contests while helping keep nine shutouts
• Added six points on one goal and four assists.
• Helped lead the Tritons to share of GLVC regular season title and No. 1 seed in GLVC Championship Tournament
• Also named to All-GLVC First Team for her First All-Conference selection.

 
Goalkeeper of the Year: Katy Fitzler, Junior, Drury

• Becomes the Panthers' second GLVC Goalkeeper of the Year and eighth overall major award winner for Drury.
• Started 16 games and played in 1,571 minutes.
• Tied for the lead in shutouts (9), second in the league in goals against (10), goals against average (.573), and save percentage (.882) while finishing fourth in saves (75).
• Second in GLVC-only matches in save percentage (.881), third in goals against average (.520), and fifth in shutouts (5).
• Named GLVC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 8 and Sept. 22
• Helped Panthers secure the No. 5 seed in GLVC Championship Tournament
• Also named to All-GLVC First Team for her second All-Conference selection after making Second Team last year.

Freshman of the Year: Sophia Carter, Midfielder, Maryville

• Becomes Maryville's second Freshman of the Year.
  • Becomes Maryville's seventh overall major award winner.
• Tied for ninth in goals (7), goals per game (.389), points (18), and points per game (1.00)
  • Added four assists
• In GLVC-Only matches, tied for sixth in goals (6), and goals per game (.429), seventh in points (16), and points per game (1.14), and tied for seventh in assists (4).
• Helped Saints secure the No. 3 seed in GLVC Championship Tournament

 
 
Coach of the Year: Stephen Cavallo, Missouri-St. Louis

• Named Coach of the Year in his first season in charge
• Led Missouri-St. Louis to a 12-4-2 overall record and 11-1-2 GLVC record, as well as the top seed in GLVC Championship Tournament.
• Joins Martin in garnering Missouri-St. Louis's first two major honors.
  • Mentored total of seven players to All-GLVC recognition, including first-teamers Martin and Julie Steiger.

 
In addition to Missouri-St. Louis's duo of Martin and Steiger, nine others earned All-GLVC First Team honors. The McKendree trio of forward Maddie Mauch, midfielder Maggie Gleckler, and defender Zoe Cormier was joined by the Rockhurst duo of forward Anna Lantz, and midfielder Caitlin Smith. Drury goalkeeper Katy Fitzler, Maryville midfielder Sophia Carter, Missouri S&T forward Adriana Benassi, and Quincy forward Rebecca Rheinheimer fill out the First Team.
 
The 15 GLVC James R. Spalding Sportsmanship Award honorees are listed below, which are student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These individuals must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The honorees are now eligible to become one of their school's two Spalding Sportsmanship Award winners, which will be announced at the end of the academic year.
 
A complete list of the 2025 All-GLVC teams and postseason honors can be found below.
 
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF YEAR: Anna Lantz, Sr., F, Rockhurst
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF YEAR: Taylor Martin, Jr., D, Missouri-St. Louis
GOALKEEPER OF YEAR: Katy Fitzler, Jr., GK, Drury
FRESHMAN OF YEAR: Sophia Carter, MF, Maryville
COACH OF YEAR: Stephen Cavallo, Missouri-St. Louis
 

FIRST TEAM Katy Fitzler, Jr., GK, DU Sophia Carter, Fr., MF, MU Zoe Cormier, Jr., D, MCK Maggie Gleckler, Jr., MF, MCK Maddie Mauch, So., F, MCK Adriana Benassi, So., F, S&T Taylor Martin, Jr., D, UMSL Julie Steiger, Sr., D, UMSL Rebecca Rheinheimer, Jr., F, QU Anna Lantz, Sr., F, RU Caitlyn Smith, Jr., MF, RU

SECOND TEAM Elena Perez, Sr., MF, DU Morgan Krupp, Sr., D, LEWIS Carissa Speight, Fr., D, MU Rylee Griffith, R-Jr., GK, UMSL Karley Kinzinger, Sr., D, UMSL Josie Maddox, Jr., F, UMSL Gwen Maggard, So., MF, UMSL Ella Wolfard, Sr., F, QU Kaitlyn Hobart, So., D, RU Lexi Matzke, Fr., MF, RU Lux Sands, Sr., F, WJC

THIRD TEAM Anna Harris, Jr., D, DU Holland Hawkins, Sr., F, DU Zy'Aire Parker, Sr., D, UINDY Ivanna Faria, Sr., MF, LIN Gina Catanzaro, Sr., MF, MU Lexie Munoz, Gr., D, MCK Greycen Erisman, Sr., MF, S&T Rachel Skyberg, Jr., MF, UMSL Devin Tracy, Fr., GK, QU Tamerra Gantt, Sr., F, SBU Quinn Nauman, Jr., F, TSU

JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES
Anna Harris, DU
Anna Schurz, UIS
Zy'Aire Parker, UINDY
Jada Harvey, LEWIS
Kayleb Garrett, LIN
Lauren Dickhut, MU
Perry Rogan, MCK
Grace Kohler, S&T
Julie Steiger, UMSL
Daniella Segall, QU
Alex Zoellner, RU
Jadyn Clark, SBU
Gretchen Rock, TSU
Rhea Buchanan, UIU
Megan Giffin, WJC
 
JAMES R. SPALDING SPORTMANSHIP AWARD TEAM WINNER
Illinois Springfield