August 12, 2026
GREAT LAKES CONFERENCE
GREAT RIVER DIVISION - Emma Schut, Michigan Rangers FC
Coming off an All-OVC Second Team selection in her sophomore season with Southern Indiana, Emma Schut earned Great River’s Defensive Player of the Year honor in Michigan Rangers FC’s WPSL debut season.
LAKE ERIE DIVISION - Gracie Brown, Beadling SC
Auburn junior Gracie Brown took Lake Erie’s Defensive Player of the Year honbors after helping Beadling SC record a 0.75 goals against average, a division best for 2026 and the fewest goals the club allowed in its four-season WPSL tenure.
METROPOLITAN CONFERENCE - Carmen Reinerink, Brooklyn City F.C.
Carmen Reinerink led a Brooklyn City F.C. defense that recorded three shutouts and 0.5 goals against average over a four-game win streak between weeks Five and Seven en route to her Best XI team selection and Metropolitan’s Defensive Player of the Year award. Reinerink kicks off her senior season at Adelphi this Fall.
MID-ATLANTIC CONFERENCE
COLONIAL DIVISION - Dani Stuart, SJEB FC
Saint Joseph’s grad student Dani Stuart named Colonial Division’s Defensive Player of the Year for a second time after a two-time Best XI selection season en route to capturing SJEB FC’s third division title in four years.
COMMONWEALTH DIVISION - Anna Buckwalter, Reading United A.C.
Anna Buckwalter won back-to-back Commonwealth Division Defensive Player of the Year honors after helping Reading United A.C. record four shutouts and its second-best goal against average in three seasons. Buckwalter also tabbed Best XI selection honors for a second time, and won Week Four National Defensive Player of the Week honors. Buckwalter will kick off her junior season at Binghamton this Fall.
NORTHEASTERN CONFERENCE - Giovanna Dionicio, Sporting CT
UConn alumna (2023) Giovanna Dionicio wins her first Northeastern Conference Defensive Player of the Year award after helping Sporting CT record three shutouts in its second WPSL season, coming off a 2025 WPSL championship.
