Introducing The News-Press 2024 All-Area Girls Soccer Team sponsored by Babcock Ranch
At the end of each season, The News-Press selects All-Area teams honoring the best athletes for every sport. Coaches from area schools are sent nomination forms and are asked to nominate and rank their athletes as well as those from other teams. That data combined with The News-Press' research led to the selection of the All-Area teams.
FIRST TEAM
Ryleigh Acosta
School: Mariner
Year: Senior
Highlights: The two-time Southwest Florida Player of the Year, two-time Florida Dairy Farmers 5A Player of the Year, and Florida's 2024 Miss Soccer had her best season yet, posting 26 goals and 29 assists against the area's toughest schedule. Acosta, signed with Florida, helped the Tritons advance to the regional finals, finishing with a 20-4 record.
Mikala Allen
School: Cape Coral
Year: Senior
Highlights: Allen helped the Seahawks on the defensive side of things, helping limit opponents to just north of a goal and a half per game. The senior added nine goals and six assists in a high-octane attack, helping Cape Coral to a 15-7-2 record.
McKenna Cartmell
School: North Fort Myers
Year: Junior
Highlights: The defender had a huge hand in North's success this season, limiting opponents to under a goal per game while contributing to 14 shutouts. Cartmell added a pair of assists for the Red Knights, who advanced to the 5A title game.
Samantha Degen
School: Fort Myers
Year: Senior
Highlights: The midfielder was solid for the Green Wave, posting 7 goals and 7 assists to help the program win a district title for the second time in three seasons. Fort Myers won a playoff game for the first time since the 2016-17 season, beating Sickles on the road.
Sophia Kerns
School: North Fort Myers
Year: Senior
Highlights: The senior was clutch more often than not for North Fort Myers, finishing with 30 goals and 14 assists to help the Red Knights to an 18-4 record and a state runner-up finish. Kerns had the best stretch of her career in the final few games of the season, scoring in every game from the regional quarterfinals onward, including a game-tying goal against American Heritage in the state final that sent the game to extra time.
Trishelle Lopez
School: Mariner
Year: Junior
Highlights: Lopez returned to Southwest Florida and had a huge impact in net for the Tritons, finishing with 163 saves (6.8 per game) to help Mariner finish 20-4. Lopez conceded just 18 goals on the season against a schedule that included Ponte Vedra, North Fort Myers, Lincoln, Lourdes, Sunlake, Somerset Canyons, and Bishop Verot among others.
Evie McCarthy
School: North Fort Myers
Year: Senior
Highlights: The Arizona signee was arguably the area's top on-ball defender in the midfield, helping limit high-octane forwards throughout the season. McCarthy added 13 goals and 12 assists for the Red Knights, which advanced to the Class 5A title game against American Heritage.
Cami Nunn
School: North Fort Myers
Year: Senior
Highlights: Nunn makes First Team All-Area once again, helping lead the charge on the Red Knights back line with just 11 goals conceded during the regular season. The senior was a part of 13 shutouts this season for North Fort Myers, which was the area's last team standing.
Caroline Pelkofski
School: Bishop Verot
Year: Junior
Highlights: It's new colors, but a similar result for Pelkofski, who makes First Team All-Area for the third consecutive season after doing it her first two years with Mariner. The USF commit posted 16 goals and 14 assists for Bishop Verot, which finished 17-2-1 with a regional semifinal appearance in Class 3A.
Katie Pelkofski
School: Bishop Verot
Year: Freshman
Highlights: It's been a while since there was a freshman in the area who had a 20-goal, 20-assist season, but Pelkofski did that in her first year on the varsity scene. She finished with 26 goals and 20 assists, as Bishop Verot more than tripled their win total from a season ago, going from 5-7-1 to 17-2-1.
Stephanie Saracione
School: Mariner
Year: Senior
Highlights: Defending Saracione and the Mariner attack as a whole was complicated for many teams this season, as the senior finished with 22 goals and 9 assists, both of which were second on the team. The forward often did her damage against teams that made the postseason, as 18 of her 22 goals (81.81%) and 7 of her 9 assists (77.77%) came against playoff programs.
Lea Scotti
School: Bishop Verot
Year: Sophomore
Highlights: Scotti makes her debut on First Team after she led a back line that surrendered less than a goal per game on the season, which included 12 shutouts. The sophomore added 6 goals and 10 assists to help Verot capture Private 8 and district championships.
SECOND TEAM
Alexa Bereczki, Evangelical Christian
Caly Crisman, Fort Myers
Giana D'Altrui, Fort Myers
Kenlee Dominguez, North Fort Myers
Cameron Fallacara, Cape Coral
Gigi Gerke, North Fort Myers
Jillian Haataja, Bishop Verot
Alesiah Hill, Mariner
Alyssa LoGuercio, Canterbury
Carly Paz, Mariner
Mackenzie Root, Fort Myers
Kali Young, Canterbury
HONORABLE MENTION
Bishop Verot: Lila Dinkel, Kylie Dutton, Alyvia Mueller
Cape Coral: Isabella Cruz, Sophia Fallacara, Sophia Vianest
Canterbury: Alexis Molina, Mackenzie Molina, Alex Tartaglia
Cypress Lake: Kiera Desmond, Rory Farrell, Meredith Moldawsky
Estero: Emma Burkett, Kaitlyn Mancini, Kiah Meacham-Scott
Evangelical Christian: Emma Blackwell, Brooke Foss, Taylor Foss
Fort Myers: Kailani Casazza, Morgan McCarty, Lyla Perk
Gateway: Natalie Ibarra, Mikayla Medina, Cali Yeomans
Ida Baker: Annabelle Barbot, Aubrey Tansey, Emma Woolf
LaBelle: Gracelyn Hyde, Alexis Rico, Fabiola Solis
Mariner: Alyssa Diamond, Kelsi Longabardi, Ari McIntyre
North Fort Myers: Megan Bergin, Lexi Neumann, Kinsley Seidl
Oasis: Angelina Acevedo-Montalvo, Samantha Chitu, Abigail Sykes
Riverdale: Skylar Hubbard, Natalie Grant, Bailey Trosterud
South Fort Myers: Estafany Martinez, Daniela Olmos, Jessica Santana
SFCA: Grace Coggins, Raychel Nassef, Schylar Yianoukos
COACH OF THE YEAR
Nick Erickson
School: North Fort Myers
Highlights: The third time was the charm for Erickson and the Red Knights, who got by Mariner in the regional finals after two previous losses before shutting out Lincoln in the state semifinals and taking American Heritage to the brink in the state championship game in their first-ever appearance. North Fort Myers finished with an 18-4 record with just 14 goals against. Erickson's record at North Fort Myers is 198-37-15 over his 11 seasons.
Follow Sports Reporter Alex Martin on X: @NP_AlexMartin. For the best sports coverage in Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: The News-Press 2024 All-Area Girls Soccer Team sponsored by Babcock Ranch
