2011 MIAC Women's Soccer Awards

http://miac-online.org/news/2011/11/7/WSOC_1107111532.aspx

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) announced the 2011 MIAC Women's Soccer Awards Thursday, including the MIAC All-Conference Team, Honorable Mention selections and the All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team. The league's top individual awards were shared by the two teams that met last weekend for the MIAC Playoff championship - Saint Benedict and Concordia.

Saint Benedict's Colleen Bouchard and Concordia's Sarah Rounds were named the 2011 MIAC Women's Soccer Co-Players-of-the-Year, after both led their teams to the MIAC Playoff title game, and bids to the 2011 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Tournament. Bouchard's coach, Saint Benedict's Steve Kimble, was voted the 2011 MIAC Women's Soccer Coach-of-the-Year by his peers after coaching the Blazers to the league's Playoff title, a share of the regular-season championship and a trip to the NCAA playoffs.

The 2011 MIAC Women's Soccer All-Conference team consists of 20 members, nominated and selected by the conference coaches. The team features seven seniors, six juniors, five sophomores and two freshmen. Rounds highlights Concordia's four All-MIAC selections, which led the league. Regular-season co-champs Saint Benedict and Carleton each had three players selected, as did fellow MIAC Playoff participant Macalester. St. Olaf and St. Thomas each placed two players on the All-MIAC Team, while Augsburg, Hamline and Bethel had one selection apiece. There was also a 20-member Honorable Mention team honored as well.

Rounds, Carleton teammates Niki Tomita and Abby Wills, Bethel's Kelsey Flaherty, Saint Benedict's Sami Meyman, and St. Olaf's Deanne Schmidt all earned the third All-Conference honor of their career, while Bouchard, St. Olaf's Lindsay Howard, Macalester's Kat Lenhart and St. Thomas' Katy Scherer all scored the second All-MIAC honor of their career.

Bouchard was a big reason the Blazers captured both the conference's regular-season and postseason titles in 2011. The sophomore forward had balanced offensive numbers with six goals and six assists for 18 points, with four goals, three assists and 11 points in MIAC play. She finished in the top 10 in all three categories, both overall and in conference play - while leading the Blazers to a 12-6-2 overall record and a 8-2-1 mark in the MIAC with a trip to the NCAA tournament this weekend still on the horizon for her squad.

Rounds led Concordia to a third-place finish in the MIAC's regular-season standings, and a trip to the Playoff championship game, where it lost to Saint Benedict in overtime. By the numbers, Rounds was the MIAC's top offensive player this season, leading the league in goals (13), points (29) and game-winning goals (five) in overall games. She was also No. 1 in the league in conference play with eight goals and 19 points. Rounds helped Concordia to a 12-3-5 overall record and a 7-1-3 conference mark thus far, as her team is also headed for NCAA Regional play this weekend, opening against Puget Sound in Thousand Oaks, Calif., Saturday.

Kimble was honored with his first MIAC Coach-of-the-Year honor in just his third season in charge of the Blazer women's soccer program. He's led the team to a top-five MIAC finish in all three seasons, with two conference Playoff appearances and this year's regular-season co-championship, postseason title and NCAA bid all on his resume'. Kimble's team is 12-6-2 this season with an 8-2-1 mark in conference games, boosting his career record to 33-20-4 overall and 21-10-2 in the MIAC. Kimble will coach his team in the NCAA tournament Saturday when it opens against Carroll College (Wis.) in Dubuque, Iowa.

As part of a conference-wide sportsmanship initiative, the MIAC announced the sixth-annual All-MIAC Sportsmanship team for women's soccer. Members of the All-MIAC Sportsmanship team are selected by their coaches and teammates as individuals who demonstrate ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the field of competition.

2011 MIAC Women's Soccer Awards

Co-Players-of-the-Year - Colleen Bouchard, Saint Benedict (So., F, Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Xavier) and Sarah Rounds, Concordia (Jr., F, Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata)
Coach-of-the-Year - Steve Kimble, Saint Benedict (third season)

2011 MIAC Women's Soccer All-Conference Team 

2011 MIAC Women's Soccer Honorable Mention All-Conference Team

2011 Women's Soccer All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team
Augsburg - Katie Jacobson (Sr., St. Cloud, Minn./Apollo)
Bethel - Kelsey Holmberg (Sr., Cambridge, Minn.)
Carleton - Linnea Carlson (Sr., Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township)
Concordia -Noelle Hiedman (Sr., Breckenridge, Minn.)
Gustavus - Elizabeth Underwood (So., Fergus Falls, Minn.)
Hamline - Liz Stock (Sr., Savage, Minn./Prior Lake)
Macalester -Matea Wasend (Sr., Denver, Colo./George Washington)
Saint Benedict - Stephanie Gibbs (Sr., Plymouth, Minn./Robbinsdale Armstrong)
St. Catherine - Kaitlin Kramer (Sr., Coon Rapids, Minn./Anoka)
Saint Mary's - Kelsey Brown (Sr., Elk River, Minn.)
St. Olaf - Christina Herron-Sweet (Sr., San Diego, Calif./Francis Parker)
St. Thomas - Tess Hanson (Sr., Rochester, Minn./Mayo)

Courtesy of MIAC