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Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina’s Ava Robitaille again made history as the senior became just the second women’s soccer player in Southern Conference history to claim back-to-back SoCon Defensive Player of the Year honors on Thursday, headlining seven Catamounts to receive postseason all-conference recognition as the league released the voting from its 10 head coaches.

Robitaille was joined on the first-team All-SoCon by senior forward Isabella DeMarco, who became the first player in WCU history to earn first-team honors in all four years of her career. The duo was joined by classmate keeper Leanne Trudel, redshirt senior Abbie Wise, and junior defender Mary Mueth. Senior striker Milla Syska earned second-team All-SoCon honors, while Addison Davis was named to the conference’s all-freshman team.  

The first player to earn back-to-back SoCon Defensive Player of the Year honors since Samford defender Olivia Cole did so in 2015-16, WCU’s Robitaille again stood out among her peers in the Southern Conference. The 5-5 midfielder routinely played bigger than her size, winning possession both on the ground and in the air, while disrupting opponent offensive timing all over the pitch.

Recognized for her defensive prowess, Robitaille also enjoyed a career year offensively, netting career-high marks in goals (4), points (10), and shots on goal (12) entering this week’s conference tournament. The Rock Hill, S.C. native notched the first game-winning goal of her illustrious career against her hometown team, finding the back of the net in the 25th minute against Winthrop. Additionally, she capitalized on a corner kick in WCU’s 3-2 win over the Power Four foe, NC State, taking to the skies for a header in the 47th minute of the historic road win.  

Already one of the absolute best to don the Purple and Gold, Isabella DeMarco continues to add to her outstanding career as she became the first Catamount to earn four first-team All-Southern Conference accolades in her career. The senior striker has tied the program record for career assists at 25 and already holds the record for career hat tricks (3), shots on goal (118), and total shots (248).

DeMarco again saved her best work of the season for conference play, as she scored nine of her 10 seasonal goals and three of her five assists against SoCon foes. She tied her own program record for points in a match, posting a hat trick and an assist for seven total points in WCU’s dominating 9-0 win over VMI earlier this season.

Entering this week’s tournament, DeMarco is third in the SoCon with 25 seasonal points, second with 10 goals scored, tied for fifth with five assists, all coming on a league-best 74 shot attempts, 31 of which have been on target to rank third best.

One of the best goalkeepers to see the pitch in Cullowhee, Leanne Trudel collected her second straight first-team All-SoCon honor after another outstanding season between the posts for the Catamounts. The senior goalkeeper hasn’t left the pitch this season, logging all 1,620 minutes of action in her iron man campaign, while collecting a career high 78 saves. She’s recorded eight clean sheets this season and set a WCU program record with her 31st career shutout against Wofford.

Trudel is one of only four goalkeepers in SoCon history to record over 30 career shutouts and is the first to hit the milestone since UNCG’s Kelsey Kearney (who later worked for WCU’s Catamount Club) and Samford’s Alyssa Whitehead in the 2008-11 seasons.

A mainstay of the Catamount backline since she first came to Cullowhee, Abbie Wise earned her first career first-team All-SoCon plaudit for her efforts during her redshirt senior campaign. The Greensboro, N.C. native seldom left the pitch in her swansong season, recording 10, 90-minute efforts for the Catamounts, with five coming in Catamount shutouts. Wise recorded the first multi-point effort of her career, facilitating WCU’s comeback road win over Mercer as she netted her first career goal and later assisted Rylie Niemeyer on the game-winning goal over the Bears.  

The minutes leader of the field players and a stalwart defender on the Catamount backline, Mary Mueth likewise collected the first All-SoCon first team honors of her career. The junior defender has gone the distance in 16 of WCU’s 18 matches this season, piloting the Catamounts to eight shutouts. She saw the pitch for 1,595 minutes and connected with Isabella DeMarco for an assist in the 9-0 win over VMI. Since arriving in Cullowhee last season, Mueth has seen the full 90 minutes in 31 of WCU’s 39 matches.

Another mainstay in the Catamount attack, Milla Syska earned second-team All-SoCon honors for the first time in her career, as the senior forward posted 13 points on a three-goal, seven-assist performance this season. The Charlotte, N.C. native connected with Isabella DeMarco for five of her assists, but also contributed on Sofia Goclowski’s game-winning goal against UNC Wilmington and on Malia Robert’s first career tally against VMI.

Addison Davis collected the first SoCon honors of her young career, being named to the SoCon All-Freshman team. The Kenmore, N.Y. product left the pitch just once in the conference slate, going the distance in all of WCU’s SoCon matches outside of the 9-0 win over VMI. She recorded her first career point in the win over the Keydets as she and Rylie Niemeyer assisted on Isabella DeMarco’s second goal of the match. After earning a starting role on the Catamount backline against Lipscomb, the freshman recorded starts in 14 of 15 matches, starting 13 consecutive matches dating back to WCU’s home match against then No. 2 Tennessee.

Second-seeded Western Carolina is back in action in the 2025 quarterfinal round of the 2025 SoCon Women’s Soccer Championship, as the Catamounts host the seventh-seeded UNCG Spartans in the night cap of quarterfinal Friday in Cullowhee. Kick for WCU’s first postseason match is scheduled for approximately 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 31, with the winner advancing to the semifinal round on Nov. 2 at 2 p.m.

Cullowhee hosts the first quarterfinal match at 4 p.m. on Friday as No. 3 ETSU faces No. 6 Mercer for a right to advance into Sunday’s semifinal that will also be played at the Catamount Athletics Complex on campus. Beginning at $10, tickets for the quarterfinal and semifinal round matches are available online at SoConTickets.com. WCU students, faculty, and staff will receive FREE admission with a valid student ID card.

Both matches in Cullowhee will be broadcast on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with live stats available online through links at CatamountSports.com.

The highest remaining seed will host the conference championship, with the Samford Bulldogs currently holding hosting rights as the No. 1 overall seed.