BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The 2025 Gulf South Conference women’s soccer yearly award winners come from West Florida and Montevallo, while the All-GSC teams include players from nine programs. The all-conference selections and yearly award winners were voted on by the league's head coaches.
West Florida’s honorees included sophomore midfielder Olof Thorvaldsdottir as GSC Offensive Player of the Year, sophomore Jillian Thompson named as Defensive Player of the Year, while Joe Bartlinski was tabbed as Coach of the Year. Montevallo’s forward Ayla Ertekin was voted as GSC Freshman of the Year.
Regular season title winner, West Florida, had the most All-GSC selections at seven. Montevallo followed with six honorees, while Lee had four and West Alabama garnered three. Delta State and Valdosta State had two apiece, while Mississippi College, Spring Hill and Union had one each.
Thorvaldsdottir led the conference in most points (26) and averaged 1.73 per game. The native of Reykjavik, Iceland, also scored the conference’s second-most goals (10), including four game winners, and connected for six assists. She put 25 of her 45 shots on frame while starting in all 17 games for the Argonauts. The sophomore midfielder is the fourth consecutive annual offensive awardee for the Argonauts.
Thompson led West Florida’s defensive efforts in allowing the least number of goals in the conference (eight). The sophomore defender started and appeared in 14 matches, logging 1,167 minutes. She scored three goals, while taking 23 shots with 12 on target. Thompson is the third Argo to win GSC Defensive Player of the Year since the award began in 2019.
Ertekin registered four goals and two assists, tallying 10 points in her rookie season. She started in 14 of 17 games and played a total of 1,058 minutes. The Anchorage, Alaska, native had over half of her shots on goal (18 of 33), while averaging 1.06 shots on goal per game. Ertekin is the second Falcon to be tabbed Freshman of the Year, the first since Angelina Rivas in 2022.
Bartlinski earned his fourth consecutive and conference-best 11th overall Coach of the Year award. In his 24th season, Bartlinski guided West Florida to its 15th GSC regular-season title while going unbeaten with a conference record of 11-0-1 and overall record of 15-0-2. The Argonauts outscored their opponents 41-8, while leading in shots (292) and shots on goal (156).
2025 GSC Women’s Soccer Awards
Offensive Player of the Year: Olof Thorvaldsdottir, So., M, West Florida
Defensive Player of the Year: Jillian Thompson, So., D, West Florida
Freshman of the Year: Ayla Ertekin, F, Montevallo
Coach of the Year: Joe Bartlinski, West Florida
2025 Women’s Soccer First Team All-GSC
GK: Belle Okoroafo, West Florida§
D: Jillian Thompson, West Florida§
D: Avery Sides, Lee§
D: JoHannah Peterson, West Florida§
D: Lara Brewis, Montevallo
M: Olof Thorvaldsdottir, West Florida§
M: Selis Demirci, West Alabama§
M: Grace Berry, Lee§^!
M: Morgan Goehring, Montevallo^
F: Alaysia Nye, Lee§!
F: Lainey Farabaugh, Montevallo§*
F: Mya Swinton, West Florida§^!#
F: Hunter Wallace, West Florida
2025 Women’s Soccer Second Team All-GSC‡
GK: Yumari Hernandez, West Alabama
D: Madysen Legere, Montevallo
D: Ava Steven, Delta State
D: Alexa Pratt, Spring Hill
D: Emily Djagbare, West Alabama
M: Alexis Castle, West Florida
M: Bear Bradbury, Montevallo
M: Megan Davis, Lee
M: Kaitlyn Scherer, Valdosta State
M: Chloe Colquhoun, Delta State
F: Ayla Ertekin, Montevallo
F: Taylor Youmans, Valdosta State
F: Charlie Cooper, Mississippi College
F: Lucia Revuelto, Union*
^ 2024 First Team All-GSC
* 2024 Second Team All-GSC
! 2023 First Team All-GSC
# 2022 Second Team All-GSC
§ unanimously selected
‡ Tie in voting resulted in expanded roster