BURNSVILLE, Minn. (nsuwolves.com) – Northern State University’s Megan Fastenau was selected by the league coaches as the NSIC Outstanding Senior of the Year for women’s soccer announced by the league office today. A native of Aberdeen, South Dakota, Fastenau is a senior majoring in biochemistry with a 4.00 grade point average.
The NSIC Outstanding Senior of the Year Award is presented to a women’s soccer student-athlete who participates at their institution for four years and is academically superior while making a positive contribution to their team and the University. The NSIC Outstanding Senior of the Year award was initiated in 2020-21 to honor an outstanding senior that exemplifies the attributes of the model NSIC student-athlete.
On the pitch, Fastenau is a four-time All-NSIC performer, earning first team honors that past two season. The 2024 NSIC Preseason Player of the Year, she earned United Soccer Coaches All-Region team accolades. She has scored 25 career goals, 15 of which were game winners to total 60 points.
In the classroom, Fastenau is a CSC Academic All-District team member and a multiple year recipient of the NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence Award. She has presented research findings at the Legislative Poster Session in Pierre, South Dakota, and at the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology conference in San Antonio, Texas.
“Megan is a model student-athlete and a great example of pursuing high level academic endeavors and athletic achievements. The players speak about “Emptying their Tank” to describe working hard. Megan empties her energy tank every day. One day this fall, she completed an 8-hour grad school interview before going on to score 2 goals in a NSIC game our team won, 2-1. She serves as a captain, she has multiple obligations on campus, and all the while never skips a beat. She’s reliable, high achieving, and has impeccable character. Megan is a driving force for our program,” said Northern State Head Coach Bob Casper.
On campus, Fastenau is a member of the Pre-Med Club, the Student Athlete Advisory Commitee and has volunteered for a wide variety of groups and events in her collegiate tenure including Salvation Army bell ringing, the NSU Day of Champions, campus blood drives, youth soccer camps, and served as a campus tour guide.
About the NSIC
The NSIC is a 15-team, 18-sport, NCAA Division II conference with institutions located in Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The NSIC is a model Division II conference that uses high-level athletics competition to develop champions in the classroom and community while empowering student-athletes to be impactful and positive leaders. Formed in 1992 by the merger of the Northern Intercollegiate Conference (men’s league) and the Northern Sun Conference (women’s league), the NSIC has flourished over the past quarter century, maturing into a union of Upper Midwest colleges and universities. The NSIC has won 27 team national championships and crowned 116 individual national champions. For additional information, visit NorthernSun.org.
About NCAA Division II
The NCAA, the national governing body for college athletics, is a volunteer association of more than 1,000 colleges and universities that classify their athletics programs in one of three membership divisions. The 300+ institutions in NCAA Division II support a balanced approach in which student-athletes can earn scholarships based on their athletic ability, pursue their desired academic degree, and participate in all the campus and surrounding community have to offer. Division II student-athletes annually graduate at rates higher than their student body peers, and they have access to the best championships-participant ratio among the NCAA’s three divisions. Division II gives student-athletes the unique opportunity to compete in the classroom, on the field, in their career, for their causes, and on their terms. For additional information, visit NCAA.org.