In addition to being named ECAC Women’s Soccer Player of the Year, being a Women’s All-American and being part of a team that was at one point the best in the nation in its division, Gannon University senior Mani Brueckner can add PSAC Fall Top 10 to her list of accomplishments this year
This award isn’t just given to the player who presents the most physical prowess; it requires the athlete to be a student first and an athlete second.
Brueckner earned this award with a 3.74 cumulative grade-point average in the field of engineering. She is a three-time academic All-American and was named to first team this season after she was named to third team as a junior and second team as a sophomore.
Brueckner, a Valencia, Pa., native, has received seven career player of the year awards, including three NCAA Division II Atlantic Region Player of the Year and three PSAC Player of the Year honors.
She is also a five-time All-American for accomplishments strictly on the field with two first-team selections.
Brueckner’s past All-America awards include National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NCSAA) and Conference Commissioner’s Association first-team accolades as a senior. As a sophomore she received NCSAA second-team honors and Daktronics third-team accolades in her sophomore and junior years.
She can also boast that she is an eight-time all-region selection and was named all-region by both the sports information directors and coaches all four years.
The four-year starter broke Gannon’s single-season record for points (44) and goals (18) in 2015. She is Gannon’s all-time leader in career points with 137 and assists with 45.
This past season, Brueckner netted 18 goals, eight assists, 44 points and six game-winning goals. She led the conference in points per match (2.10), goals per game (0.86) and game-winning goals. Brueckner ranked third in assists per match (0.38) and ranked 16th among all NCAA Division II players in game-winning goals.
After spending two weeks at the top of the nation in women’s soccer, the Knights fell to East Stroudsburg in the regular-season finale. Gannon still shattered the school record for victories set by the 2012 team at 13-4-2. This season also marked a milestone for Gannon by hosting the PSAC Final Four and the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
BRANDON JACES
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