The Golden State Athletic Conference announced today that Reese Davidson has been named GSAC Football Player of the Year. She is the 10th player in Westmont program history to be so honored.
The Rancho Santa Margarita senior is joined on the All-Conference team by senior Taylie Scott of Maple Grove, Minnesota, senior Karly Kingsley of Elk Grove and sophomore Andie Siegel of Costa Mesa.
Davidson led the GSAC with 16 goals (nine in conference) and played in five multi-goal games, including three hat tricks.
“Beyond the evidence that Reese is the top scorer of the year, in many other ways she deserves this recognition. Reese is showing leadership by keeping the ball for us, pressing hard and defending every time we lose it,” Westmont said. head coach Jenny Jaggard. “She leads the ability for us to get the ball back when we return it.
“All year Reese has intentionally followed our freshman class and taken them out to lunch. She connects with them and makes every member of the team feel like they belong and have a role.
“You see it in our team dynamic. Everyone loves and fights for each other. It starts with the top management. Reese is not the only one in our group to do this, but she She is a good vocal leader and sets an example as a captain.
“I’m really proud of her. To get to this point, she’s put in hours of time beyond what’s expected of a player.”
Scott started at centre-back in all 66 games she played in her career.
“If you look at Taylie’s four-year experience, I don’t know if we’ve ever had a more consistent player,” Jaggard praised. “To be a starting center from day one of her freshman year is amazing. She’s played like a senior from day one and her maturity continues. She’s a rock.
“Taylie is probably one of the most competitive people in the team. She takes it as a personal affront if a striker tries to beat her one-on-one. She goes out of her way to prevent goals against us. As a senior and captain, she thrived on organizing the back line and leading and teaching everyone around her to do the magic she knows how to do.
“She was an All-American last year. That was really cool, but it also means she had a target on her back. Every forward in our conference knows that and every team is trying to find a way to do it. fall. She does a very good job of dealing with that pressure.”
Although a student at Westmont since her freshman year, Kingsley did not join the team until her junior. This season, her third on the team, she is the second-leading scorer with nine goals. She was also credited with three assists. In the Warriors’ last game, she scored a hat trick against Menlo.
“We are so happy that she has decided to join the team,” Jaggard said. “Karly is a purist of the game itself. She will go down to Lovik Field alone and spend hours and hours with the ball. You can see it in the way she plays. She has an immaculate first touch. She can hit n’ any type of the ball because she spent time playing with the ball and figuring out how to spin it outside of her foot or bend it with the inside.
“There is this art, but there is also a social dynamic. The first year she entered the program, it was an individual decision to show up and play football because football is something that she loved it, but she didn’t have a deep connection to the team. At training camp, she shared with us her journey from being a soccer purist to recognizing that joining the team was so much more than ‘a simple game. It’s about relationships and building the team around you. That way she’s not only a purist of her own performance, but also helps the players around her. to step up their game. She is very quiet, but has flourished in her own form of leadership.
Ande Siegel is the only Westmont underclass to make the All-GSAC team. She has scored five goals and produced five assists this season.
“Ande has had quite a year,” Jaggard said. “She’s a very skilled player and she has a special talent with the ability to take free kicks. I’ve never seen a player who can consistently hit a ball from 30 or 35 yards. She clearly showed that the early couples weren’t flukes. What I really admire is the diversity of free kicks. She hit the crazy 35 yards a lot of times, but she also hit the smart ones where she sends a short kick to a teammate.She pays attention to how the other team sets up and sees opportunities.
“I signed Ande to be a midfielder. In his first year, however, we needed an outside back. I looked at his skills and asked him to play outside. She worked very hard and played a very important role there last year, even if it is not necessarily his favorite place.
“This year, with Daisy Alvarez out at the start of the season, we needed someone to fill the midfield role. It’s a very different skill set. The fact that I can now play her at n “Any place reflects a lot of maturity on her part. She’s been a really good teammate in her new role. I think she’s a player we’ll see play more of a leadership role over the next two years and continue to score more goals.”
The Warriors finished the regular season undefeated, going 12-0-3 overall and 7-0-1 in GSAC play. After winning the GSAC Regular Season Championship, the Warriors enter the GSAC Tournament as the number one seed. Westmont has a bye to this week’s quarter-finals and will host the semi-finals and championship game on November 10-12 at Thorrington Field.
