by Eric Willuweit

Chicago, Ill. – The Illinois Tech women's soccer team has had tremendous success on the field this season, continuing this Sunday when they compete for the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament Championship at Stuart Field. That success has carried off the field as well, as the Scarlet Hawks had eight players named to the Women's Soccer All-NACC team for the 2022 season.

Highlighted among those players is the NACC Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Year, Clàudia Martí Fanlo. Martí Fanlo comes into Sunday's match with 16 goals and eight assists on the season. The senior exchange student and Architecture major from Barcelona, Spain has 40 points on the season.

Joining Martí Fanlo on the All-NACC First Team were defenders Katelyn Holcomb and Kayla Smith, and midfielder Kelly Hitchcock. Holcomb, the senior Psychology major from Temecula, Calif., is part of a backline that only allowed 16 goals on the season. Smith, one of three first-year players to secure starting roles this season, is an offensive threat from the backline. The Aerospace Engineering major from Redmond, Wash. has seven goals and seven assists, and is key in the Scarlet Hawks' transition game. Hitchcock, the junior midfielder and Mechanical Engineering major from Scottsdale, Ariz., is second on the team with 12 goals and 27 points. She has helped quarterback the Scarlet Hawks' offense that has scored a conference-leading 103 goals and a 4.7 goals-per-game average.

Receiving All-NACC Second Team honors were sophomore midfielder Lucy Jorjorian and first-year defender Gabriella Baltes. Jorjorian, the Biomedical Engineering major from Henderson, Nev., provides strong two-way play in her midfield role, helping shut down opponents in the defensive zone, and setting up the Hawks' offense in the attack zone. Baltes, a Biochemistry major from Plymouth, Minn., is a shut-down defender in the center back position, and as the season progressed has not been afraid to generate offense off the rush, chipping in four goals and two assists from the back line.

Receiving All-NACC Honorable Mention honors were junior goalkeeper Hailey Flannagan and sophomore midfielder Kenzie Tokuchi. Flannagan, a Biochemistry major from Batavia, Ill., has played in 14 matches, allowing only 10 goals for a 0.82 goals-against average. She has made 26 saves on the season. Tokuchi, an Architecture major from Monrovia, Calif., is third on the team in goals (8) and points (21).