All-Big 12 soccer taps 3 Jayhawks

Three Kansas University soccer players earned some sort of All-Big 12 honors on Monday.

Sophomore midfielder Liana Salazar was named to the first team, while senior forward Caroline Kastor earned her second-straight second-team distinction. Freshman Aurélie Gagnet was named to the Big 12’s All-Newcomer Team.

Salazar, a native of Bogota, Colombia, finds herself on the Big 12’s first team for the first time in her career, having been named to the All-Newcomer team two seasons ago as a freshman. The midfielder started all but one of KU’s 19 matches this season, dishing out three assists, scoring three goals and 44 shots.

Kastor, a senior out of Wichita, was the team’s top goal scorer for the second straight year and ranked sixth in the conference with her six goals in 2013. Kastor is currently the Big 12’s active leader in career goals (26) and points (66) and will leave KU as the school’s No. 2 all-time goal scorer.

Gagnet became the fifth KU freshman in the last five seasons to claim a spot on the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team. The Montpellier, France, native missed the Jayhawks’ first four games the season after helping her French U19 National Team to a win at the UEFA Cup, but made an immediate impact after arriving in Lawrence. She started all but two matches in the Jayhawk back line since joining the team in early September, helping Kansas to a 1.06 goals against average over its final 12 games.

Eighth-seeded KU (7-10-2) will meet top-seeded West Virginia at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in a first-round Big 12 Championship game at the Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Mo.