By Denise Gideon
WCU Director of Media Relations / Social Media
Western Carolina women’s soccer placed five players on the North Carolina Collegiate Sports Information Association (NCCSIA) All-State Team. Kirsten Hahn (midfield), Naya Marcil (midfield), Natalie McNally (defender), Ashlee Owens (goalkeeper), and Valentine Pursey (forward) were all honored.
Hahn, a freshman from Burlington, Ontario, Canada, earned a spot on the 2021 Southern Conference All-Freshman team. She played in 19 matches and started six, scoring three goals and adding four assists – tied for the most on the team. Her 10 points, in the 2021 season, were tied for second-most points on the squad.
Marcil, a freshman from Saint-Jean-Sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada, also was named to the 2021 Southern Conference All-Freshman team. She was named SoCon Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 21, 2021. For the season, she … played in 20 matches and started four scoring three goals and tied for second on the team for assists (4) and points (10). Marcil scored the game-winning goal in the Catamounts win over Ohio.
Owens, a senior from Harrisburg, N.C., had a breakout season in her final year with the Catamounts. She played and started in a career-high 11 matches … allowing 16 goals in 931:17 minutes played She recorded a career-high 43 saves with a 1.55 goals-against average ending the 2021 season with a record of 5-5 and recorded three shutouts.
Pursey, a senior transfer Indiana University Purdue Indianapolis (IUPUI) and from Ticehurst, United Kingdom, was a 2021 First Team All-Southern Conference selection. She led the team with nine goals adding two assists for 20 points on the year. Her nine goals tied for sixth in the Catamount record books while her 20 points ties for 10th in the WCU record books for points in a season. She had seven game-winning goals on the year which ties for the most in program history ending the season ranked second in the NCAA. Pursey scored the game-winning goal in overtime against UNCG to push the Catamounts to the SoCon semi-finals for the first time since 2017.
McNally, a senior transfer Indiana University Purdue Indianapolis (IUPUI) and from Grayslake, Ill., was a 2021 United Soccer Coaches Southeast All-Region Third Team (first in program history). She was also named 2021 First Team All-Southern Conference and earned a spot on the 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-District III First Team. McNally played and started in all 20 matches scoring two goals and ending the season with four points. She took eight shots with five shots on goal and was part of a Catamount defensive backline that shut out nine opponents which were tied for third-most in program history.
As a team, Western Carolina ended the 2021 season with 11 victories which tie for fifth place in program history for most wins in a season in the program. The Catamounts made an appearance in the SoCon semi-finals for the first time since 2017 facing Furman. WCU defeated the Paladins in 2017 with Furman getting revenge in the match in 2021.
Head Coach Chad Miller is the winningest coach in program history with 98 victories at Western Carolina. He will look to hit his 100th win at the helm of the Western Carolina women’s soccer program in the 2022 campaign.