Midwestern State's Ashley Cottrell headlined a group of six Mustangs to gain
All-Lone Star Conference honors when league officials announced annual awards
Wednesday night.
Cottrell was named the league's Freshman of the Year
tallying a team-high seven goals on just 15 shots including a pair of two-goal
performances against West Texas A&M and Texas Woman's
University.
The Mansfield Summit High product accounted for three
equalizing goals and two game-winners while helping the Mustangs to a
17th-straight berth in the LSC Postseason Tournament.
Cottrell is joined
on the first team by teammates Hanna Staley and Payton Fookes.
Staley, a
senior defender out of Austin McNeil High, is a two-time Daktronics All-America
selection while earning first-team All-LSC honors as the league's Defender of
the Year in 2010 and 2011.
As the leader on the back line, she has been
instrumental in helping MSU hold the opposition to a 1.25 goals against average
while posting five shutouts.
Fookes, a sophomore forward from Wichita
Falls, ranks second on the squad with four goals and three assists this
season.
She accounted for a pair of game winners on long restart goals
against Incarnate Word and Texas A&M-Commerce. The Mustangs boast a 4-0 mark
when Fookes finds the back of the net.
Senior forward Maddie Fraser and
senior goalkeeper Mallory Whitworth were named to the second team while senior
defender Megan Barnhart gained honorable mention.
Midwestern State opens
Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament play Thursday afternoon against
Abilene Christian at The Pitch in Canyon (Texas). Kickoff is set for 2:30
p.m.
With a win, the Mustangs move on to face host West Texas A&M in
the semifinal round Friday night at 7:30 p.m. The championship is set for Sunday
at 1 p.m.
MSU Basketball to Open Exhibition Season
Midwestern State men's basketball will open their season Thursday, November 1st at 7 p.m. when they host Southwestern Assemblies of God in exhibition action under the Dome at D.L. Ligon Coliseum.
The Mustangs are ranked #22 to start the season. Somehow, this is the first time they've started a season ranked in the NABC D-II poll, even as they defend their third-straight Regional title.
Kevin Grayer leads the five returning starters, joined by forwards Chris Buttermore and Matt Gallagher and guards Jeff Grayer and Derrell Gibbs.
Head Coach Nelson Haggerty was 29-4 last season, his first as head coach after two years as Grant McCasland's top assistant at MSU.
The regular season will begin November 9th in Weatherford, Okla. with the SWOSU Classic. MSU's first game is against LSU-Shreveport, before they face the host Bulldogs the next night.
MSU's first regular-season home won't be until December 5th, a Lone Star Conference game against West Texas A&M.
