UAC Announces Women's Soccer Postseason Awards and All-Conference Teams

Tarleton State’s Jessica Baires leads UAC postseason honors

Jessica Baires recorded 10 goals, 10 assists, and 30 points during the 2026 season to earn the United Athletic Conference (UAC) Offensive Player of the Year award, UACSports.com reported.

The Tarleton State forward started all 19 matches for the Texans and rewrote the program’s record book in the process. Baires established new Tarleton State single-season records for most goals, assists, and points. Her consistency was a defining feature of the campaign, as she tallied at least one point in 10 of her final 13 matches.

The conference awards, selected by the league’s eight head coaches, recognized standout individual performances across the defensive and goalkeeping units as well.

Gracie Kelly and Adelyn Speight Split Defensive Honors

The Defensive Player of the Year honor was split between Abilene Christian’s Gracie Kelly and North Alabama’s Adelyn Speight. Kelly played every single second of the 18 matches she started for the Wildcats, totaling 1,620 minutes. Her presence anchored a defense that allowed only 12 goals all season and recorded a conference-high eight shutouts. The Wildcats allowed more than one goal in only two matches during the year.

Speight led a North Alabama backline that surrendered 18 goals throughout the season. She started all 17 matches for the Lions and played the full 90 minutes in 15 of those contests. The Lions’ defense managed six clean sheets, including three consecutive shutouts to close the 2026 regular season. Speight also contributed offensively with two goals and an assist.

LeVasseur started all 16 matches for the Colonels and missed only 45 minutes of play during the entire season. She recorded 72 saves and finished with a .818 save percentage. LeVasseur also led the UAC with four clean sheets during conference play, finishing the season with five total shutouts.

Addison Briscoe Wins Freshman Honors as Matt Cosinuke Earns Coach Award

Abilene Christian’s Addison Briscoe took home the Freshman of the Year accolade. Briscoe was a central figure in the Wildcats’ undefeated conference season and Red Division championship. She also ranked second in the league in goals (9) and points per game (1.17). Briscoe scored at least one goal in six of her 10 UAC matches.

The Coach of the Year award went to EKU’s Matt Cosinuke. Under his leadership, the Colonels secured the Blue Division championship in their first season as members of the UAC.

This marked the program’s second regular-season conference title and their first in a decade. The season concluded with a victory over Austin Peay, making it the first time in EKU history that the program achieved three consecutive seasons with at least 10 wins.

2026 UAC Women’s Soccer Postseason Awards

Award	Recipient	School
Offensive Player of the Year	Jessica Baires	Tarleton State
Defensive Player of the Year	Gracie Kelly	Abilene Christian
Defensive Player of the Year	Adelyn Speight	North Alabama
Goalkeeper of the Year	Jordan LeVasseur	EKU
Freshman of the Year	Addison Briscoe	Abilene Christian
Coach of the Year	Matt Cosinuke	EKU

All-Conference selections

The league also announced its First Team and Second Team All-UAC rosters. The First Team featured Addison Briscoe (Abilene Christian), Avery May (EKU), Jessica Baires (Tarleton State), Zahra Friess (Tarleton State), Sakiko Manabe (Central Arkansas), Chiara Premoli (EKU), Avery Mendez (Tarleton State), Gracie Kelly (Abilene Christian), Rachel Phifer (EKU), Adelyn Speight (North Alabama), and Jordan LeVasseur (EKU).

The Second Team included Shakira Kafero-Roberts (Abilene Christian), Jama Akpanudo (Central Arkansas), Caroline Billings (Central Arkansas), Maggie Turner (Little Rock), Rachel Robinson (EKU), Peyton Smith (EKU), Gizelle El Assal (North Alabama), Charlise Smith (Abilene Christian), Anna Drexel (Austin Peay), Emerson Kercher (Central Arkansas), Juliet Strange (EKU), and Bella Medrano (Abilene Christian).

The All-Freshman Team comprised Addison Briscoe (Abilene Christian), Audrey Coppinger (Abilene Christian), Sophia Saludares (Abilene Christian), Sadie Yapp (Austin Peay), Liza Dugan (Central Arkansas), Ronnie Ariel (EKU), Calista Everson (EKU), Laney Palmer (Little Rock), Catherine Schneiderhahn (North Alabama), Ava D’Costa (Tarleton State), and Avery Mendez (Tarleton State).