Four Eastern Illinois women's soccer players earned All-Ohio Valley Conference honors for the 2026 season as the league released its end of season awards prior to the start of the OVC Tournament on Thursday.
 
Amara Leppla was named the OVC Freshman of the Year while also earning first team All-OVC honors.  Amelia Mundo joined Leppla on the first team with Colleen Bauer and Alex Tetteh named to the OVC second team.
 
Leppla collected a handful of honors for the Panthers being named the OVC Freshman of the Year, a first team selection at forward and being named to the OVC All-Newcomer team.  Leppla led the team in scoring with five goals and three assists for 13 total points.  During the season she had a streak of scoring at least one goal in four straight matches with a streak of five straight matches with a point.  She becomes the second straight EIU player to win OVC Freshman of the Year and fifth Panther overall to win the award in the program's history.
 
Mundo was named a first team All-OVC selection at midfielder with this being her first All-OVC selection.   Mundo tied for the team lead with three assists scoring her lone goal of the season with a match winner in the season opener against Valparaiso.  Mundo played 832 minutes on the pitch including the full 90 minutes in an OVC win over Lindenwood.
 
Bauer was named a second team All-OVC selection at defender making her way on to an All-OVC team for the third straight year.   Bauer anchored the Panthers back line during the year with EIU posting eight shutouts for the year.  She logged a team-high 1,420 out of 1,440 minutes on the pitch coming off the field just one time early in the season at UIC. 
 
Tetteh was named a second team All-OVC selection at forward.  The senior picked up her fourth All-OVC selection in four years as she finished this season with four goals and three assists for 11 points.  During the year Tetteh moved into eighth on the EIU career goals scored list with 21 and eighth all-time in program history with six match winning goals.  She is currently tenth on the EIU career points scored list with 47.
 
EIU finished in a tie for third in the OVC regular season standings and will host an OVC quarterfinal match at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Lakeside Field.   The Panthers will play the winner of Thursday's opening round match between Southern Indiana and Western Illinois.

2026 Women's Soccer All-OVC Team
OVC Forward of the Year: Claire Nieroda, SIUE
OVC Midfielder of the Year: Unni Wolf, UT Martin
OVC Defender of the Year: Allie Carroll, UT Martin
OVC Goalkeeper of the Year: Mac Titus, UT Martin
OVC Freshman of the Year: Amara Leppla, Eastern Illinois
OVC Coach of the Year: Mike Varga, UT Martin
 
All-OVC First Team
GK – Mac Titus, 5th – UT Martin
F – Amara Leppla, Fr. – Eastern Illinois
F – Mackenzie Compton, Jr. – Lindenwood
F – Claire Nieroda, So. – SIUE
MF – Amelia Mundo, Sr. – Eastern Illinois
MF – Anna Johnson, Sr. – Lindenwood
MF – Unni Wolf, Jr. – UT Martin
D – Peyton Johnson, Fr. – Lindenwood
D – Olivia Klinkhardt, Jr. – Southeast Missouri
D – Allie Carroll, Jr. – UT Martin
At-Large – Taylor Cassidy, So. – Southeast Missouri
 
All-OVC Second Team
GK – Mahe-Lee Caron, So. – Western Illinois
F – Alex Tetteh, Sr. – Eastern Illinois
F – Tori Bockstadter, Jr. – SIUE
F – Peyton Cook, Sr. – UT Martin
MF – Ashton Lynam, Jr. – Morehead State
MF – Yaritza Trejo, - UT Martin
MF – Claire Brown, Sr. – Western Illinois
D – Colleen Bauer, Jr. – Eastern Illinois
D – Emma Schut, Jr. – Southern Indiana
D – Nasti Tanninen, Fr. – UT Martin
At-Large – Merrick Schwalbach, So. – Southern Indiana
 
All-Newcomer Team
Amara Leppla, F, Fr. – Eastern Illinois
Lauren Hale, GK, Fr. – Lindenwood
Peyton Johnson, D, Fr. – Lindenwood
Sam Steele, MF, Sr. – Lindenwood
Ashton Lynam, MF, Jr. – Morehead State
Taylor Cassidy, MF, So. – Southeast Missouri
Chloe Ouimet, D, So. – Southeast Missouri
Tori Bockstadter, F, Jr. – SIUE
Allie Carroll, D, Jr. – UT Martin
Nasti Tanninen, D, Fr. – UT Martin
Yaritza Trejo, MF, Sr. – UT Martin