Many All-Conference Honors for Record-Breaking Women’s Soccer Team
After a banner season on the pitch, the Eagle women’s team collected a bounty of All-Golden Valley Conference soccer awards.
Attacking Player of the Year: Freshman Brooklynn Wade
Goalkeeper of the Year: Freshman Avery Suhr
Coach of the Year: Ed Kephart
1st Team All-Conference: Sophomore Abigail Escobedo, freshman Maddie Towner
2nd Team All-Conference: Sophomore Elyssa Harrison, freshman Corynn Lemos
One season removed from finishing with a 3-15 record and a player shortage that left them unable to field a full team at times, the 2024 Eagles shattered the school record with 13 wins, made the school’s first soccer postseason appearance, and won a postseason soccer game for the first time.
Wade was second in the state with 32 goals, led the state with 1.68 goals per game, tied for second in the state with 6 game-winning goals, and was third in state with 70 points and 3.68 points per game. She not only surpassed the team’s previous career goal-scoring record of 19 but transported it into another dimension. She scored in 15 of the Eagles’ 20 games, and Kephart said Lake Tahoe and Feather River were both lucky to shut her out. “If you put numbers up like that, you’re going to win the Attacking Player of the Year award.”
The Eagles’ women’s soccer program “finally turned the corner,” said Kephart, who was chosen as Coach of the Year despite their third place finish in the GVC standings. “We had the right pieces this year, but even with the right pieces it doesn’t always jell. We had the right pieces that jelled together.” And they got it together quickly, starting the season with 9 wins and 2 ties while outscoring those 11 opponents by a combined 49-4.
Kephart gave credit for his conference award to assistant coaches Jake Leiffer, Bryton Kiger, and Teya Amidei, and he heaped praise on the players who made it happen.
Beyond Avery Suhr’s numbers (58 saves, a .725 save percentage), Kephart said she got tested and showed herself to be “the best all-around goalkeeper in conference. She’s a solid shot stopper, can kick and distributes the ball well,” he said. “She’s super calm with the ball at her feet. She’s like another field player because of what she can do with her feet.” Suhr’s shot stopping skills were on full display when she saved 4 of 5 kicks in the PK period to help the Eagles win their playoff game in overtime at Los Medanos in the first round of the NorCal Regionals.
Kephart said the team’s coaches knew how good Maddie Towner was before the season started, but it took her a while to decide she wanted to play for the Eagles. Then it took half the season for her to figure out that what the coaches knew about her was true. She moved into the starting lineup for the fourth game of the season and stayed there, finishing 3rd in the state with 14 assists and 6th in state with .74 assists per game. She scored 4 goals and was 2nd on the team and 9th in conference with 24 points.
Abigail Escobedo started all 20 games this season and finished 2nd on the team, 4th in conference and 9th in state with 12 assists. She had played on Weed Youth Soccer teams coach by Jake Leiffer and his father, Jack, years ago. This year she earned a spot in the CCCSCA Sophomore Showcase that was scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 7 in Sacramento. “Abigail grew so much from last year to this year as a player and a person,” Kephart said. “We’re super excited for her.”
Kephart described Elyssa Harrison as the team’s “anchor at center defender.” She started and played in 19 games this year and 17 games last year. “She reads the game so well, can win everything out of the air, and does it all in a calm matter-of-fact way,” Kephart said. She also scored a goal and had 2 assists this year.
Corynn Lemos tied with teammate Maiyah McDonald for third on the team and 16h in conference with 6 goals, just behind sophomore teammate Alexa Luquin who had 7. Kephart said, “Corynn was our on-field midfield general. She’s probably one of our most experienced players, reads the game well, and is always at the right spot at the right time. She knows when to attack and when to stay back. She was 2nd Team instead of 1st because some other players had better stats. But there’s all the other “unstatable” things she does that everybody recognized.”
Of the six Eagles who made all-conference, Kephart credits Jake Leiffer for recruiting five of them. Visiting family in Arizona, Leiffer watched some soccer in Tucson, then drove more than 200 miles to see Brooklynn Wade play in Yuma, near the borders of California, Nevada and Mexico. Soon after, Wade decided to become an Eagle. Leiffer coached Abigail Escobedo, Elyssa Harrison, and Maddie Towner in youth soccer, and he had connections with the Lemos family from living in Weed, including Corynn’s father Mike and uncle Ken, a teacher at Weed Elementary School.
Bryton Kiger joined the Eagle coaching staff this year after coaching at Crater High School in Oregon. Several freshmen players from Crater High were on the roster, including starting forward Maiyah McDonald, starting defender Harrisen Poe, and defenders Sybella Worley and Marissa Whitt. Kephart said Kiger also helped in bringing goalkeeper Suhr to Siskiyous from Greeley, CO.
“I just drove the van,” Kephart joked. When looking ahead, he said, “From what I’ve heard all the freshmen plan to come back next year, and we’ve got a good crop we’re talking to.”
The list of freshmen includes starting midfielder Meadow Cummings of Yreka, starting forward Jonell Alderson of Palo Cedro, starting midfielder Katie Effa of Redding, goalkeeper Oceanna Knight of Anderson, defender Izabella Ault of Cottonwood, and midfielder Cheyenne Thompson of Priest River, ID.
By Steve Gerace