The Big Ten announced Wednesday its women’s soccer end-of-season award winners, giving four Indiana women’s soccer players distinctions.
Freshman goalkeeper Jamie Gerstenberg and freshman midfielder Sydney Masur made the All-Big Ten Freshman team, while sophomore defender Anna Aehling and junior midfielder Avery Lockwood made third-team All-Big Ten.
Gerstenberg was arguably Indiana’s most valuable player in her first season, tying the program’s individual single-season shutout record with nine. She conceded eight goals, good for first in the Big Ten and four less than Michigan State redshirt junior goalkeeper Lauren Kozal, who was named Big Ten Goalkeeper of the Year.
Gerstenberg’s historic season earned her a call-up to Germany’s under-20 national team, which made her unable to be with Indiana for its final pair of regular season matches against No. 9 Rutgers and No. 18 Purdue.
Related: Indiana women’s soccer’s Rennie, Gerstenberg called up to respective national teams
Masur was a key component in Indiana head coach Erwin van Bennekom’s midfield as the season went along. Despite not tallying any goal contributions, the midfielder was one of several freshmen who cemented their spots in Indiana’s starting XI, making 10 starts in her 17 appearances.
Anchoring the Hoosiers to a program single-season record 10 shutouts, Aehling started in every match this fall. The German defender has been no stranger to awards early in her collegiate career. She made the All-Big Ten Freshman team and second-team All-Big Ten in last spring’s shortened season.
Lockwood, Indiana’s premier attacking midfielder, scored three goals this season. Most notably, she scored the game-winner in 1-0 win over the University of Tennessee-Martin and a goal-of-the-season contender for Indiana with a chip shot from over 30 yards away in a 3-0 victory at Kansas State University.
Indiana went 9-5-4 this season and just missed out on the Big Ten Tournament after going winless in its final four matches. The team must wait to see if it can earn its first bid into the NCAA Tournament since 2013 when the committee selects the field Nov. 11.
