MVC Release
 
ST LOUIS – Celebrating 25 years of women's sports in the Missouri Valley Conference, Missouri State women's soccer alumnae Sarah Guenther and Jackie Jasper were named to the MVC Women's Soccer 25-Year Anniversary Team, announced by the league Thursday.
 
Selection for the women's soccer 25-Anniversary Team was determined by a 25-person committee (two representatives from each MVC institution and a panel of five voters from the Conference office). The team composition includes years in which league teams competed under the MVC umbrella during the past 25 years (1992-2017) and does not include competition from the current season. The voting panel determined a 'Top 10' from a list of 25 finalists.
 
The first Bear to represent Missouri State on the 25-Year Anniversary Team, Sarah Guenther was a standout for the Bears during the 2001-04 seasons. A two-time NSCAA Central All-Region selection, Guenther was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Year her junior and senior season. Earning another notable nod in 2006-07, she was honored as a member of the MVC Women's Soccer All-Centennial Team.
 
Guenther was named to the All-MVC Honorable Mention team as a freshman, the second team as a sophomore and was a first-teamer her final two seasons in a Bear uniform. A vital member of the Missouri State squad, she earned Scholar-Athlete honors in her final two seasons and led the team with seven assists in the 2004 season.  
 
"Sarah is one of the most explosive players that I've had the pleasure of coaching," head coach Rob Brewer said. "She was a superior athlete who had fantastic skills, speed and power. She played left back for us and was able to run the flank to join the offensive attack. 
 
"One former Valley coach told me that she was one player in the league that he would pay to watch her play. Sarah is a wonderful athlete who has now taken her skills to coaching high school soccer."
 
The other Bear to make the Valley's elite list was Jackie Jasper, a fantastic goalkeeper for Missouri State during the 2005-08 seasons. Jasper is one of six, four-time All-MVC honorees and was named the 2007 Defensive Player of the Year. She claims the league record with an astounding 27 career shutouts, 7128 minutes in goal and sits seventh in league history with 364 career saves.
 
Jasper leads all Missouri State goalkeepers with 35 career wins and 77 matches started in goal. She was named to the MVC All-Freshman Team in 2005 after reining in 92 saves and acquired five MVC Player of the Week honors over the course of her career. Along with her achievements on the field, Jasper was labeled a Scholar-Athlete all four years as a Bear.
 
"Jackie was a fantastic athlete and leader," Brewer said. "She came in as the only healthy goalkeeper and was basically thrown into the fire. She never took a day off and improved by learning from her mistakes. Jackie was one of those players who you knew would always give great effort on every play and that her effort would continue during the grind of a long season.
 
"I really believe that Jackie could have played professionally if there had been more opportunity upon her graduation."
 
The Missouri Valley Conference was founded in 1907 and is the nation's second oldest Division I athletics conference. Women's sports were incorporated into the MVC in 1992, having previously competed under the Gateway Conference banner from 1982-92.
 

Name	School	Years	Notable Honors
Brittney Neumann	Creighton	2009-11	3-time all-MVC; 2009 Freshman of the Year; 2010 Player of the Year
Andrea Schmitz	Drake	2002-05	4-time all-MVC; 2002 Freshman of the Year, 2004 Player of the Year
Kayla Lambert	Evansville	2005-08	3-time all-MVC; 4-time All-Region; 2005 Freshman of the Year; 2008 Player of the Year; second in career points
Krista McKendree	Evansville	1998-01	4-time all-MVC; All-American; 1999 Defensive Player of the Year; 2000 Player of the Year
Krissy Meek	Evansville	1996-99	4-time all-MVC; Freshman of the Year; 3-time Player of the Year
Heather Forsyth	Illinois State	2002-05	2-time all-MVC; 2-time MVC Player of the Year
*Rachel Tejada	Illinois State	2011-14	4-time all-MVC; 4-time Player of the Year; Freshman of the Year; holds 11 league records
Annie Wayland	Illinois State	1999-02	4-time all-MVC; 2001 Player of the Year; second in career goals
Sarah Guenther	Missouri State	2001-04	2-time all-MVC; 2-time Defensive Player of the Year
Jackie Jasper	Missouri State	2005-08	4-time all-MVC; 2007 Defensive Player of the Year; career shutout record