Valparaiso women’s soccer junior midfielder Rita Craven (Frankfort, Ill./Lincoln-Way North) has been named both the Horizon League Player of the Year and the league’s Offensive Player of the Year to highlight six Crusaders in all who were honored, as the league announced its postseason awards on Monday.  Redshirt freshman forward Vanesa Abad (Barrington, Ill./Lake Zurich [Ohio State]) earned Freshman of the Year accolades, while John Marovich was named the league’s Coach of the Year for the first time in his coaching career.

Craven was joined as a First Team All-League selection by sophomore forward April Cronin (Glenview, Ill./Glenbrook South).  Representing the Crusaders on the Second Team All-League squad were redshirt sophomore defender Shelby Oelschlager (Glendale, Ariz./Mountain Ridge) and redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Sydney Galvez-Daley (Chicago, Ill./Fenwick [Creighton]).  In addition to being named Freshman of the Year, Abad earned a spot on the All-Freshman Team as well.

Craven becomes the first player in Crusader women’s soccer history to earn league Player of the Year honors, and claimed the Offensive Player of the Year award as well.  The central midfielder scored five goals in the regular season and added two assists, ranking second on the team in points.  Four of Craven’s goals were of the match-winning variety, tying her for league-high honors and matching the program’s single-season record for game-winning goals.  She also stood out throughout the year with her box-to-play, tracking back defensively to help the Crusaders limit their opponents to just eight goals on the season.

Abad is the second straight Crusader to earn the league’s Freshman of the Year accolade, joining last year’s honoree, Morgan Manzke.  Abad tallied five goals on the season and added an assist as well, ranking among the top-ten in the league in goals and points.  Both of Abad’s goals within Horizon League play were of the match-winning variety, as she scored the eventual winners at Wright State and at Green Bay.  She helped the Crusaders clinch the perfect league campaign in the regular season finale at Green Bay, tallying a goal and an assist in the game’s first seven minutes.

Marovich earns Coach of the Year accolades for the first time in his tenure as head coach and is the program’s first Coach of the Year since Stephen Anthony picked up the honor from the Mid-Continent Conference in 2006.  Marovich took a squad which was projected to finish in fifth place in the league’s preseason poll and led them to a perfect 8-0-0 mark in Horizon League play – just the third 8-0-0 campaign in league history.  He has molded the Crusaders into one of the nation’s top defensive teams, ranking among the top-five in the nation in goals against average.  Marovich has led this year’s team to new program records for longest unbeaten streak and longest winning streak, while the Crusaders enter the Horizon League Championship with 12 wins, tied for the highest single-season total in program history.

Cronin joined Craven as a First Team All-League honoree for her outstanding play up top for the Crusaders.  The sophomore has been lethal offensively in the second half of the season, entering the Horizon League Championship with seven goals in the last ten games.  Cronin netted five goals within league-only play to lead all Horizon League players and has found the back of the net seven times overall, good for second in the league.

A Second Team All-League selection, Oelschlager has been a stalwart at center back for this year’s Crusader squad.  The redshirt sophomore has played 1547 of 1622 minutes this year for Valpo on the back line, the most of any of the Crusader field players, helping limit opponents to just eight goals on the year.  Within Horizon League play, Oelschlager never came off the park as the Crusaders tallied five shutouts and surrendered just three goals in eight league games.

Galvez-Daley received Second Team All-League honors after enjoying one of the top seasons by a goalkeeper in program history.  The redshirt sophomore has already matched a single-season school record with ten clean sheets on the season, and ranks among the top-ten nationally in both goals against average (0.44) and save percentage (.877).  Galvez-Daley, who has played every minute in net in her first season of collegiate competition, has not given up more than one goal in a game since the season opener in August.