Jaguar All-American Alex Truitt, right, and All-American Lyana Perez of Darton State College battle for the ball in an October game. (photo by Gerald Moulder)
by Wade Marbaugh
Jaguar center defender Alexandria “Alex” Truitt was selected to the National Junior College Athletic Association women’s soccer All-America team for her second time.
She is the third Georgia Perimeter College women’s soccer player to earn the honor in both her freshman and sophomore seasons.
“Alex has been the backbone of our defense for the last two years. She’s a big-time player,” said GPC head coach Bruno Kalonji. “She’s a wonderful person, a great captain, a great leader, a motivator on the field.”
In 2010 and 2011, Esther Anyanwu and Linda Chukwuji were selected to the NJCAA All-America team as freshmen and as sophomores.
As a freshman, Truitt made first team All-America. This past fall, the NJCAA nominations committee named her to the third team. Her statistics are impressive—she anchored a defense that allowed only four goals and slapped 11 shutouts on opponents in her 14 games.
The Jaguars lost only one game with Truitt on the field, a 1-0 overtime heartbreaker to Darton State College. Truitt was unable to play in GPC’s two NJCAA Region 17 tournament games because of an injury. The Jaguars lost the championship match to Darton 4-0 and finished the season with a 14-2 record.
In Truitt’s two seasons, the Jaguars posted a 30-3 record and outscored opponents 151-25. The Jaguars won the GCAA regular season championship both years (and the two prior seasons when Anyanwu and Chukwuji played).
Truitt, Stephanie Gutierrez, Caroline Haaland and Rachel Schmidt were named to the All-Region 17 first team as the Jaguars dominated the honor roll with 10 players, more than any team in the conference.
Four Jaguars were selected to the second team—Kyana Campbell, Alexa Webb, Salako Bolanle and Marlique Asson. Courtney Dobeck and Sara Marks received honorable mention awards.
Jaguars making the 11-player all-tournament team were Haaland, Gutierrez and Mary Nguyen.
“The results show the deep respect that the league has for our talented players,” Kalonji said. “The team didn’t peak at tournament time, but these individuals worked hard and played outstanding soccer over the long haul. I am very proud of them.”
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