Parks Named Defensive Player of the Year; Kistler All-Conference

By Nathan Baliva

MONMOUTH, ILL. Monmouth College senior Avery Parks (Bloomington, Illinois) was named the Midwest Conference women's soccer Defensive Player of the Year on Friday. The Scots put two players on the Midwest Conference All-Conference team as Parks was selected to the First Team while freshman Morgan Kistler (Kokomo, Indiana) made the Second Team.

Parks is the second player in Monmouth history to be named Defensive Player of the Year and the first non-goalie to win the award. M Club Hall of Fame goalkeeper Samantha Barranco won the award in 2010.

"Avery has been the cornerstone of this program for four years," said head coach Lucas Henderson. "This recognition is a culmination of her efforts over that time, and I couldn't be prouder & happier for her."

Parks is the fifth player overall and the fourth field player in Monmouth history to make four All-Conference teams. She was on the second team in 2022, 2023 and 2024 before making the first team this year. The last player to make All-Conference in all four seasons was Kara-Jade Gordon 2016-19.

Parks started all 16 games this season as a center back. She played a team-leading 1377 minutes and scored her second career goal. Parks finished her Monmouth career with 63 games played and started, ranking in the top 25 in school history in both categories. Over four seasons she played 5584 minutes out of a possible 5670, meaning she was on the field for 98.5% of her career.

Kistler had a fantastic freshman campaign for the Fighting Scots as she led the team in goals (10), points (24) and game winning goals (3). She also tied for second on the team with three assists. In MWC action, Kistler scored four goals and provided two game winners.

Kistler ranked fourth in the MWC overall in goals scored, points and game-winning goals. In MWC play she was seventh in goals scored and second in game-winning goals.

"We haven't had many all-conference freshmen over the years, and no freshman since I've been here has been a double-digit scorer," said Henderson "She's worked very hard for this recognition. She has a bright future ahead of her here."

This is the third straight season in which the Scots have had multiple All-Conference selections and the third straight season with at least one player on the First Team. The Scots finished the season in a tie for fourth in the MWC standings at 3-3-2 but didn't qualify for the MWC Tournament on a tiebreaker with Grinnell. Overall the Scots were 7-6-3 with one game canceled due to inclement weather.