Hix garners All-MW First Team honors for third year; four others honored
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Mountain West released its annual all-conference and yearly awards on Monday and for the second-straight year, the University of New Mexico had five players land on an All-MW Team. Senior midfielder Jessie Hix headlined the Lobos by garnering first team honors for the third-straight year.
OFFICIAL MW RELEASE
Hix is now just the second Lobo all-time in women’s soccer to be a three-time All-MW First Team honoree joining former standout Jennifer Williams, who accomplished the feat in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Hix is also the 18th player all-time in MW history to be at least a three-time first team honoree.
Joining Hix in receiving All-MW honors and appearing on the second team are junior forward Leilani Baker, sophomore midfielder Jadyn Edwards, junior defender Alexa Kirton and junior forward Gwen Maly. Maly is a repeat honoree after being named to the first team last season, but Baker, Edwards and Kirton all are receiving their first career All-MW plaudits.
A native of Albuquerque, Hix has built up a reputation that has preceded her since her freshman campaign and that was evident this year as the league’s head coaches tabbed her to the first team despite not playing the final five games of the season due to a season-ending injury.
In her time on the pitch, Hix played in 72 games and made 55 starts. She totaled 39 points with 17 career goals and five career assists. Her 17 goals are tied for the fifth-most in program history. In her final season as a Lobo, Hix scored three goals, two of which were game-winners, and dished out a pair of assists while playing and starting in 14 games. The last of those games and starts came on Senior Night as Hix was given the ceremonial start in front of the home crowd at the UNM Soccer Complex.
Baker, another local product by way of Rio Rancho, broke out in a major way this season and became a scoring threat for the Lobos. One of the fastest players on the field at any given time, Baker found the back of the net six times to tie for the team lead, and just about all of those goals featured a highlight-reel buildup. Baker was named the MW Offensive Player of the Week on October 7 after having two goals and an assist in UNM’s 2-0 weekend against Nevada and UNLV.
Recently named as the Lobos’ second MW Offensive Player of the Week, Edwards received her first All-MW nod after being a model of consistency for the Lobos. Playing and starting in all 18 games thus far, Edwards had helped pace a potent offensive attack with three goals and three assists through the first 16 games of the season. The final two games saw Edwards breakout in a major way as she scored three goals and dished out three assists.
Her three goals came in the regular season finale against San Diego State and was the first hat trick for the Lobos since 2014 and the first for a player in the MW since 2017.
A physical presence in the middle of the field, Kirton was lauded by the league’s coaches as a defender. Kirton would help the Lobos post a Goals Against Average just over 1.00 at 1.04 while also helping register six clean sheets on the season, including a 1-0 blanking of then No. 22-ranked Texas Tech to open the regular season. Kirton has played and started in all 18 games and has logged over 1,400 minutes for the Lobos.
An All-MW First Team selection a year ago, Maly earned second team honors this season after another solid season offensively for the Lobos. In her junior season, Maly scored six goals to tie for the team lead with fellow All-MW honorees Baker and Edwards. Two of her goals this year came one the road at Utah State. Both of Maly’s goals represented all of the Lobos’ scoring in the game as they came away with a 2-1 win. Maly has also played in all 18 games and made 13 starts thus far for the Lobos.
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