Haley Zwecker had a busy spring.

As Pace’s senior co-captain and most valuable player, Zwecker scored 16 goals and had a team-best 16 assists at midfielder to help lead Pace to the Class A semifinals for the first time since 2006 and be the Neighbor Area Player of the Year.

This came after Pace basketball’s season, where she played point guard until the campaign ended Feb. 25 with a loss to Gordon Lee in the Class A state playoffs. Knight soccer, then 1-2, got Zwecker back and rattled off 15 straight wins by a combined score of 91-7.

She scored three goals in the final two playoff games, including Pace’s only regulation score on a penalty kick against Fellowship Christian in a 1-1 (3-1 PKs) loss in the semis.

“She’s a really good holding midfielder,” Pace coach Liz Tutt said. “She likes to go to goal. She’s a playmaker, and she’s central to reading the field and seeing what we need to do, so she’s been critical to our success.”

Although heading to Amherst (Mass.) College for basketball, Tutt said earlier this season Zwecker easily could play both sports collegiately that she excelled in at Pace. She wouldn’t be the first Knight to pull double duty at Amherst, as Pace football and baseball coach Matt Hall played both sports at the college.

Pace’s leading goal-scorers on the year were Arden Carlton (24 goals) and Evelyn Hobbs (17 goals), giving the trio 57 goals alone between them, an average of three a game.

Holy Innocents’ sophomore forward Grant Wilmer also had a brilliant season, scoring 19 goals and adding 15 assists as the leading offensive threat for the Golden Bears, which reached the Class A semifinals as well.

“She is by far the most valuable player aiding in almost half of the goals we scored this season with the actual finish or the assist,” Holy Innocents’ coach Stephani Kohl said. “She is dangerous anywhere on the field and she is a tireless worker.”

Westminster’s defense paved the way for its berth in the Class AA semifinals, not allowing more than single goal in regulation in all but one game. Coach Clark Meyer especially praised the work of senior right defender Catherine Johnston, particularly her individual defense and ability to transition to attack. He also called the center back tandem of senior Sam Battey and junior Tanner Kaplan the best he’d seen in 15 years at the school. Sophomore striker Liza Linginfelter led the Wildcats with 18 goals.

Other players to stand out this year included Riverwood forward Alexis de Groot (17 goals, five assists), who tied a record for most goals in a season by a Raider player, and Lovett midfielder Mary Catherine Battle, who had five goals alone on headers from set pieces and was named the team’s MVP.

First Team

Name (Pos.) School

Merrill Stovroff (F) Galloway

Taylor Anderson (F) Holy Innocents’

Grant Wilmer (F) Holy Innocents’

Brianna Ryce (F) Holy Spirit

Arden Carlton (F) Pace

Alexis de Groot (F) Riverwood

Liza Linginfelter (F) Westminster

Megan Culberson (MF) Galloway

Bailey McBride (MF) Holy Innocents’

Shannon O’Hanlon (MF) Holy Innocents’

M.C. Battle (MF) Lovett

Lauren Schaffer (MF) Pace

Haley Zwecker (MF) Pace

Virginia Hamilton (MF) Westminster

Kelsey Roof (D) Lovett

Rachel Greenberg (D) Riverwood

Sam Battey (D) Westminster

Tanner Kaplan (D) Westminster

Catherine Johnston (D) Westminster

Aubrey Stone (GK) Galloway

Wyn Ponder (GK) Westminster



Second Team

Name (Pos.) School

Louis McGirt (F) Atlanta International

Ana Philbrook (F) Atlanta International

Kimberlin Rogers (F) Lovett

Rachel Goldman (F) North Springs

Evelyn Hobbs (F) Pace

Callie Bergin (F) Riverwood

Rebecca Proschansky (F) Riverwood

Amelia Cole (MF) Galloway

Julia Bird (MF) Holy Innocents'

Madeline Gibson (MF) Holy Innocents'

Selina Kelete (MF) Holy Spirit

Annie Boydston (MF) Lovett

Molly Minnen (MF) North Springs

Erin Woodruff (MF) Riverwood

Kathryn Murray (MF) Westminster

Angela Dale (D) Holy Spirit

Kandace Thompson (D) Pace

Megan Crosby (D) Riverwood

Madeline Morse (D) Riverwood

Sarah Belisle (GK) Holy Innocents'

Hope Barker (GK) Lovett



Player of the Year: Haley Zwecker, Pace