ADA, Okla. -- Grand Valley State senior midfielder Riko Sagara has been selected as the 2019 Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Ron Lenz National Player of the Year, joined by five other Lakers to earn All-America status, as announced by the organization on Wednesday (Dec. 11). Forward Ava Cook, defenders Sydney O'Donnell and Cecilia Steinwascher, along with goalkeeper Jessica Radice are all first team members. Freshman forward Chantel Carranza earns second team honors.
 
Sagara leads the nation in assists (23) for the second season in a row while also ranking second in points (61) this year behind only Cook. She is one dime away from matching the GVSU all-time single season record set by Marti Corby. She also ranks second in Laker history in career assists (46) despite having played just two seasons after transferring from NAIA Martin Methodist. Her 2019 All-America status makes her four-for-four in All-America accolades for her outstanding collegiate career, which she is looking to cap off with a National Championship this weekend.
 
Cook, a second team All-American in 2018, leads the nation in both goals (28) and points (67) entering the final weekend of the 2019 season; including eight goals and eight assists already this post-season. Carranza, the GLIAC Freshman of the Year, sees her first season of collegiate soccer culminate in All-America status with 22 goals, which is fifth nationally, and is seventh with 52 points.
 
O'Donnell, Radice and Steinwascher all have been instrumental in forming one of the best defenses in the country. The Lakers lead Division II with 18 shutouts while holding the second-best goals-against average in the nation (0.33) entering the Final Four. The defense pitched 13 shutouts in a row to close out the regular season, finishing two matches shy of the national record, and made history when they went the entire nine-match GLIAC conference schedule without allowing a goal; the first time in 25 years of GLIAC women's soccer a team has accomplished the feat.
 
Steinwascher, who also has five assists this season, earns her third first team D2CCA All-America honors in as many years while O'Donnell, with four goals and seven assists, and Radice, the individual national leader in goals-against average, are first-time honorees.
 
Six All-Americans and five first team members both are most in the nation for the 2019 team. The star-studded Lakers are the top seed in the Final Four and kick off the final weekend of the season with the first national semifinal, taking on 4-seed Saint Rose at 11 AM on Thursday (Dec. 12) at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.