Canyons Freshman Hailey Phipps Named Player of the Year, 12 Players Earn All-Conference

For the third time in as many years, the College of the Canyons women's soccer had 12 players earn All-Western State Conference (WSC), honors led by freshman defender Hailey Phipps who was named the WSC, East Division Player of the Year.

Phipps recorded six goals — including three game winners — to finish her freshman campaign in a three-way tie for second on the team.

Along the way she also provided a formidable presence for the Lady Cougars' back line, helping to lead a defensive unit that surrendered just 14 regular season goals.

In addition to her defensive prowess, Phipps, one of the team's co-captains, often made an impact on the COC attack. She finished the season with 13 shots on goal, and was a reliable weapon for head coach Justin Lundin to turn to on free kick and penalty kick opportunities.

Coincidentally, her PK goal vs. Victor Valley College on Oct. 18, was the first goal scored at the new state-of-the-art COC Soccer Facility.

Phipps follows in the footsteps of former COC student-athlete Mari Kneisel who was named WSC, South Division Player of the Year in both 2014 and 2015.

Meanwhile, Lundin was named WSC, East Coach of the Year after leading Canyons to a 12-4-4 overall record and 6-0-2 mark in conference play and winning the program's sixth consecutive conference title. The award is Lundin's fifth overall, and third in a row.

Earning All-WSC, East First Team honors for the Lady Cougars were sophomore goalkeeper Kianna Hemphill, freshman forward Angel Quintero, sophomore midfielder Monica Blackstock, sophomore defender Isabella Hochner and freshman defender Daphne Coffey.

Hemphill led the WSC with 10 shutouts in goal to go along with a conference-leading 0.79 goals against average. She started all 20 games for Canyons and recorded 37 saves on the season.

Also contributing to the team's strong defensive effort throughout the season were Blackstock, Coffey (one goal, one assist), and Hochner (two assists).

Quintero finished the season with six goals, three assists and 15 points in 19 games to rank second on the squad.

Freshman defender Justine Hoeft, sophomore midfielder Kailey Marquez, sophomore forward Amanda Balzer and sophomore forward Jackie Mendez were all named All-WSC, East Second Team. 

Balzer led the team with seven goals and ranked second with four assists, cobining for a team-leading 18 points.

Mendez, who started 11 games, scored six goals to go with three assists for 15 points, while Marquez, one of the team's co-captains, scored four goals and recorded one assist in 18 games. Hoeft provided yet another spark in COC's defensive attack with her strong play throughout the year.

Freshman forward Taylor Lopez and sophomore defender Jade Ane were both Honorable Mention selections. 

Lopez finished with the season with three goals and five assists, while Ane had two goals and one assist.