Air Force women’s soccer has received several Mountain West Conference honors, as announced by conference officials. The team collected awards for Coach of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, three First Team All-Conference selections, and three spots on the All-Newcomer team. This is the highest number of conference awards in a single season for the program.
Head coach Laura Busby was named Mountain West Coach of the Year, marking her first time receiving this recognition and making her the first Air Force women’s soccer coach to earn this honor since the program began in 1992. Under Busby’s guidance, Air Force achieved an 8-6-4 overall record and a 6-2-2 mark in conference play—the team’s best regular-season finish since 1995. The Falcons secured their highest-ever seeding as No. 2 in the upcoming Mountain West Championship tournament and qualified for postseason play for the first time since 2017.
“I appreciate the recognition from my fellow Mountain West coaches after a very challenging and rewarding season,” said Busby. “Our team has persevered through a government shutdown and many other hurdles, but our work is not done yet. I would like to thank the Superintendent and all the athletic directors who believed in our staff over the past four seasons. Finally, I would like to thank my incredible assistant coaches, Kaylyn Farrell and Alex Schultz, for their relentless work and pursuit of excellence.”
Sophomore forward Annika Jost was named Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year. She is only the second player from Air Force to receive this award since its inception and becomes one of just ten female athletes at the Academy to be named a conference player of the year across all sports. Jost led both her team and league with 25 points (10 goals, four assists) this season—placing her eighth on Air Force’s all-time list—and recorded a hat trick against San Jose State.
Jordan Dillingham (defender) and Peyton Ferrell (midfielder) were selected to the Mountain West All-Conference First Team alongside Jost. Dillingham started every match at left center back with 1,410 minutes played while Ferrell started each game as well during her senior year.
On the All-Newcomer Team are freshmen Zahra Friess (forward), AJ Heap (midfield), and Trishelle Lopez (goalkeeper). Friess scored four goals—the most by any Falcon freshman—while Heap made 15 starts throughout her debut season. Lopez started 15 matches as goalkeeper, recording two shutouts along with a .724 save percentage.
Coach Busby added: “It is time to get to work in Boise!”
The Falcons will compete against Utah State in Boise during their semifinal match at Boas Soccer Complex on Wednesday, November 5th at 4 p.m., marking their return to postseason competition after seven years.
