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December 1, 2006

2006 WOMEN'S SOCCER REVIEW

Augustana women’s soccer earns first postseason win in school history; women tie school record with 15 wins and advance to CCIW title game

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The Augustana women’s soccer team capped off a memorable season under sixth year head coach Scott Mejia with a win in the NCAA Division III tournament over Grinnell (2-1), the first postseason win in school history.  The Vikings also tied a school record with 15 wins, ending the year with a mark of 15-3-3.  The 2005 squad finished 15-4-1, also advancing to the NCAA Division III tournament. 

Junior forward Tessa Roberts (St. Charles North HS, St. Charles, Ill.) led the attack with 34 points.  She scored a team-high 15 goals and was credited with four assists.  Roberts will enter her senior season third on the all-time top-ten list with 36 goals.  She also sits third on the career points list, contributing 79 points in her first three seasons.  Freshman forward Katie Oakes (Wheaton North HS, Wheaton, Ill.) was second on the team with ten goals and six assists for a total of 26 points.  Senior forward Nicci Bosco (Vernon Hills HS, Vernon Hills, Ill.) scored six goals and earned four assists, finishing third on the squad with 16 points.  She ends her career fourth on the all-time list with 29 goals and 64 points.  Freshman midfielder Lauren Polock (Wheaton North HS, Wheaton, Ill.) led the team with eight assists and finished with three goals, a total of 14 points.  Senior Emily Olson (Oregon HS, Oregon, Wis.) had six assists this season, finishing her career tied for first on the all-time list with 17.  Olson also scored one goal for the Vikings.

Sophomore forward Teresa Crudele (Wheaton North HS, Winfield, Ill.) tied for fourth on the team with three goals.  She was credited with six points.  Senior midfielder Lauren Everding (Ursiline Academy, St. Louis, Mo.) and freshman midfielder Amanda Ramirez (Wheaton North HS, Winfield, Ill.) each scored two goals and had one assist for a total of five points.  Freshman midfielder K.T. Zapushek (Metamora HS, Metamora, Ill.) and freshman forward Kendall Dohm (Grayslake HS, Grayslake, Ill.) finished with two goals apiece, each earning four points on the season.  Junior defender Cody Koehler (Oswego HS, Oswego, Ill.) and senior defender Melinda Diehl (Wheaton Warrenville South HS, Wheaton, Ill.) also contributed four points for Augustana.  Koehler and Diehl each had one goal and two assists.  Freshman defender Anna Carey (Wheaton Warrenville South HS, Wheaton, Ill.) scored one goal and made the final penalty kick against Illinois Wesleyan in the conference semi-finals, advancing Augustana to the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin championship match.  Senior defender Christina Peterson (Larkin HS, Elgin, Ill.) and freshman forward Caitlin Mallon (Benet Academy, Wheaton, Ill.) were each credited with an assist.

Augustana began its season in style with a dominating performance against Clarke.  Junior goalkeeper Keri Hess (Schaumburg HS, Schaumburg, Ill.) and the Viking defense shutout the Crusaders 7-0 at Ericson Field.  This was the first of 10 team shutouts by Augustana.  The Vikings earned road wins over St. Ambrose (2-0) and Wartburg (2-1) before returning home to face Loras.  After falling in a close match to Loras (1-0), Augustana rattled off 10 straight wins, earning the team a 13-1 mark and a ranking in the Top 25 of the D3kicks.com national poll.  During the 10 game winning stretch, the Vikings won in overtime at Maryville (1-0), defeated Wheaton (2-1) for the first time in school history, and blanked five different opponents.  Augustana opened CCIW action with a 2-1 win over Wheaton in Rock Island, Illinois.  It was the first win over the Thunder for the women’s soccer program in school history.  The squad raised its record to 5-0 in the conference during the winning streak, defeating Millikin (1-0), North Central (2-0), Elmhurst (5-0), and North Park (3-1).  Roberts highlighted the run with a hat trick against Elmhurst.

After defeating Beloit (6-0), the winning streak finally came to an end, but the Vikings kept the unbeaten streak alive with successive double overtime ties against CCIW opponents Carthage and Illinois Wesleyan.  Both of these road affairs were dominated by the defense, as 220 minutes went by without a single goal from either side.  The Vikings played another double overtime thriller in the season finale, scoring in double overtime to defeat Luther (1-0).  Augustana finished the regular season with a mark of 8-1-0 at home.

The Vikings earned the second seed for the CCIW conference tournament after finishing with a 5-0-2 mark in the conference.  Another match-up with Illinois Wesleyan went down to the wire as the game ended in another tie before going to penalty kicks.  Unlike the first game, this showdown was an offensive battle with both teams scoring three goals in regulation.  After playing through two scoreless overtime sessions, the Vikings finally advanced with a 7-6 edge in the penalty kick shootout.  Carey had the final goal for Augustana, scoring after a miss by Illinois Wesleyan and sending the team to the CCIW championship game.

Augustana fell 1-0 to Wheaton in the title contest, but still advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament on the strength of a 15-2-3 regular season.  Ranked 25^th in the country, the Vikings faced off with 38^th ranked Grinnell in the opening round.  Augustana trailed early, but used two goals by Roberts to advance with a 2-1 win. 

The season finally came to an end with a 4-0 loss to 16^th ranked UW-Eau Claire in the second round, the second straight season that the Blugolds have eliminated the Vikings from postseason action.

A dominating defense and a powerful offensive attack helped the Vikings to a 49-16 goal advantage for the season.  Augustana outshot its opponents 347-220 and held a 134-52 edge in corner kicks.  Hess played in all 21 games and only allowed 14 goals, a 0.72 goals against average.  She earned seven individual shutouts and made 97 saves.  Freshman goalkeeper Caitlin Johnson (Elgin St. Edward HS, Elgin, Ill.) spent parts of eight games in net.  She made 11 saves and only allowed two goals, finishing with a 0.92 goals against average. 

Head coach Scott Mejia finished his sixth season with the Vikings and has a 76-35-9 overall record and a 24-13-5 mark in the CCIW.  Mejia’s overall coaching record of 101-54-10 includes two years at Lakeland College.

2006 CCIW Women’s Soccer Standings         

2006 CCIW TOURNAMENT

11/01 -  #2 Augustana 3, #3 Illinois Wesleyan 3 (Augustana advances 7-6 on penalty kicks) in Rock Island, Illinois - Semifinal

            #1 Wheaton 3, #4 Carthage 0 in Wheaton, Illinois – Semifinal

11/04 -  Wheaton 1, Augustana 0 in Wheaton, Illinois – Championship

2006 AUGUSTANA WOMEN’S SOCCER SUPERLATIVES

NCAA DIVISION III TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE – 2^nd appearance in school history…earned first win in school history with 2-1 victory over Grinnell…defeated 4-0 by UW-Eau Claire in second round

SCHOOL RECORD FOR WINS: 15…15-3-3 ties the 2005 team (15-4-1) for most wins in school history

SCHOOL RECORD FOR CONSECUTIVE WINS: 10…ties old record of 10 set in 2005

SCHOOL RECORD FOR WINNING PERCENTAGE: .785 (15-3-3)…breaks old record of .775 (15-4-1) set in 2005

CAREER TOP TEN LIST – GOALS SCORED: Tessa Roberts…3^rd with 36; Nicci Bosco…4^th with 29

CAREER TOP TEN LIST – POINTS SCORED: Tessa Roberts…3^rd with 79; Nicci Bosco…4^th with 64

CAREER TOP TEN LIST – ASSISTS: Emily Olson…Tied for 1^st with 17

SINGLE SEASON SCHOOL RECORD – ASSISTS: Lauren Polock…with 8, ties old record by Yvonne Gagliano in 1994

SINGLE SEASON SCHOOL RECORD – GOALIE VICTORIES: Keri Hess…15, breaks old mark of 11 held by Carla Wagner (1998 & 99) and Betsy Knawa (2003)

CCIW ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS – Nicci Bosco (1^st)…Tessa Roberts (1^st)…Keri Hess (1^st)…Anna Carey (1^st)…Lauren Polock (2^nd)…Katie Oakes (2^nd)       

CCIW “COACH OF THE YEAR”: Scott Mejia

CCIW ACADEMIC ALL-CONFERENCE – Nicci Bosco, Julie Disney, Kendall Dohm, Keri Hess, Cody Kohler, Jena Lohrens, Caitlin Mallon, Cristy Martinez & Christina Peterson.

NCAA DIVISION III ALL-CENTRAL REGION TEAM (as picked by National Soccer Coaches Association of America) – Tessa Roberts (2^nd team)

NCAA DIVISION III ALL-CENTRAL REGION TEAM (as picked by D3kicks.com) – Anna Carey (3^rd team)

TEAM AWARDS

MOST VALUABLE OFFENSIVE PLAYER – Katie Oakes

MOST VALUABLE DEFENSIVE PLAYER – Mindy Diehl

MOST IMPROVED PLAYER – Amanda Ramirez