JBU women’s soccer trio earn All-America honors
Senior Lauren Walter and junior Renny Buchanan of the John Brown University women’s soccer team have been named to the NAIA All-America third team, the NAIA national office announced Monday, Dec. 11.
Additionally, sophomore Aubrey Winter was selected to the second team of the United Soccer Coaches’ edition of their AllAmerica squads.
All three Golden Eagles had pivotal roles to play in the successful 2023 campaign that saw John Brown reach a national No. 8 ranking, both Sooner Athletic Conference regular season and tournament championships, an automatic berth into the NAIA National Championships and an appearance in the Round of 16. JBU finished the season 18-3-1 overall, completed an undefeated mark in league play (80-1) for the fifth time under head coach Kathleen Paulsen and finished 5-3-0 against NAIA top-25 competition.
Walter, the SAC Player of the Year, finished the season posting 18 goals and a career-high 13 assists, nearly doubling her previous single-season best mark of seven helpers, to finish with a team-leading 49 points. While also leading the squad in shots, shots on goal and game-winning goals with five, Walter netted a pair of hat tricks versus Wayland Baptist (Texas) and Central Christian (Kan.), finishing the season with five multigoal games. Four times she finished with at least five points in a single match and scored in 11 of John Brown’s 22 matches. Buchanan, the reigning SAC Defensive Player of the Year, filled the role of anchoring the back line by allowing just 17 goals in 22 matches, an average of 0.77 per night. The John Brown defense allowed just 145 shot attempts this season — nearly just 6.6 attempts per game — while racking up 14 clean sheets. Buchanan paced all Golden Eagles with 1,858 minutes on the pitch, starting all 22 matches, going the full 90 minutes 16 times.
Winter enjoyed the opposite of a sophomore slump this season by posting a career-year with nine goals and nine assists (27 points) more than doubling her output a season ago. Appearing in all 22 matches, she was timely, netting four game-winners — including a pivotal lastsecond goal against No. 22 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) and the SAC championship-clinching goal versus Science & Arts (Okla.). Although she didn’t score the game-winner in this particular match, Winter’s best performance came in a huge matchup at No. 25 Science & Arts, where she notched her first career hat trick in JBU’s 4-2 road victory, key in ensuring John Brown home field advantage throughout the Sooner Athletic tournament.
“I am so excited for Renny, Lauren and Aubrey for receiving these honors,” Paulsen said. “As a program we celebrate their contributions, but it is always special when other coaches recognize those contributions as well. They have played critical roles in our success this year. Similarly, it is also affirmation on the kind of season this team has experienced and the joy it has been to be a part of it.
“We have said that as the team rises, so will individual achievement and awards. This has come true this year. I am proud of them and look forward to seeing them continue to grow not only as soccer players, but as people.”
All three student-athletes will return for the 2024 season.