NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Nine Saint Louis University women's soccer student-athletes, including three major award winners, earned 2020-21 Atlantic 10 Conference postseason honors, the league announced Wednesday.
 
Junior forward Hannah Friedrich was selected Offensive Player of the Year; freshman goalkeeper Emily Puricelli was chosen Defensive Player of the Year; and sophomore midfielder Abbie Miller was tabbed Midfielder of the Year.
 
Joining that trio on the All-Conference first team are senior defender Brionna Halverson, freshman defenders Lyndsey Heckel and Sophia Stram, and freshman forward Hannah Larson.
 
Junior forward Emily Groark was named to the All-Conference second team, while Puricelli, Heckel, Larson and Stram collected All-Rookie plaudits. The Billikens placed at least one player on the All-Rookie unit for a fifth straight year.
 
SLU set program records for first-team honorees (seven); number of honorees on the first and second teams combined (eight); and All-Rookie choices (four).
 
Puricelli's selection as Defensive Player of the Year extended the Billikens' streak of claiming the award to five consecutive seasons. Kacey Bright won in 2016, and Alli Klug was the recipient the past three years. Additionally, a Saint Louis goalkeeper made the All-Conference first team for a fifth straight year; Puricelli joined Mary Niehaus (2016, 2017, 2019) and Olivia Silverman (2018) in that group.
 
Miller became the second Billiken in as many years to garner Midfielder of the Year plaudits, joining 2019 recipient Courtney Reimer. Friedrich is Saint Louis' first conference Offensive Player of the Year.
 
Senior defender Elli Brunts was selected to the 11-member All-Academic team by the league's women's soccer sports information representatives.
 
Friedrich earned All-Conference honors for a third consecutive season after making the 2019 first team and the 2018 second team. She leads the Billikens with 18 points (2G, 14A), and her 14 assists lead the nation and are just one shy of matching the school record. Friedrich ranks third in the A-10 in points per game (1.29).
 
Puricelli tops the A-10 and ranks 16th nationally with six shutouts. She also leads the league in goals against average (0.56, 34th nationally), goalkeeper minutes played (1285:29, 34th nationally) and save percentage (.849, 44th nationally).
 
Miller is second on the team in all games with 16 points (6G, 4A). She led the Billikens in A-10 contests with 14 points (5G, 4A).
 
Halverson is a repeat selection on the All-Conference team; she collected second-team laurels in 2019. She has one goal this season. Heckel leads the team with 1,289 minutes and has two goals and an assist, while Stram has contributed three goals and an assist. The trio joined Puricelli on a backline that limited opponents to eight goals and averages of 7.6 shots, 4.1 shots on goal and 2.2 corner kicks in 14 games.
 
Larson is tied for the A-10 lead and is 27th in the nation in game-winning goals (three). She has a team-high-tying seven goals in all and is tied for sixth in the conference in goals per game (0.50).
 
Groark also has seven goals, two of which are game-winners. She is tied for sixth in the A-10 in goals per game (0.50).
 
Brunts has two assists on the season. She carries a 4.0 grade point average with a double major in accounting and entrepreneurship.