If you haven’t followed Big Ten women’s soccer this season you probably don’t know that for nine of the twelve universities, 2011 has ended. Ohio State, Penn State and Illinois earned berths in the field of 64 to determine a national champion and will play at least one more game. The other nine schools, Iowa included, are now engaged in a mix of looking back at the season that is behind and looking forward to 2012.
The conference regular season champion for 2011 is Penn State. The Nittany Lions finished with a mark of 10-1 in conference. Finishing second was Illinois (8-2-1), then Michigan State (7-4), followed by Wisconsin (5-3-3), Minnesota and Iowa both at 5-4-2, Ohio State (5-5-1), Michigan and Purdue at 4-6-1, Nebraska (4-7), Indiana (2-8-1) and Northwestern (1-9-1). Seeding in the conference tournament followed the top eight conference records. The bracket worked out as intended this time, with the two top seeded teams facing off in the final.
That was where things stopped going as planned. The game went to overtime and Illinois prevailed 2-1 to win its second Big Ten tournament championship. The Hawkeyes were ousted in the first round of the tournament by Michigan State. In the game, the Hawkeyes and Spartans were looking at a scoreless tie after playing 110 minutes of soccer. Michigan State then prevailed 4-3 in shootouts. After all the conference tournaments had been played, the picture became clear as to which teams across the nation were the best. Penn State came in at #13 in the latest coaches’ poll, thanks to a scoring percentage that ranked fifth in the nation and a shutout percentage that was good for 14th. Illinois was also in the poll at #16. Iowa as a team certainly had its share of accomplishments. According to hawkeyesports.com the Hawkeyes in 2011 recorded their best overall record (13-4-2) in program history. Iowa's tie for fifth place in the final league standings is the second-highest finish in school history and the No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Tournament is also the second-best seed for a Hawkeye team. The five conference wins was also good for second best in school history. What should never be neglected when reviewing a season in any sport are the individual players that made the season special for not only their teams, but themselves as well.
The headliner name when discussing B1G women’s soccer is Maya Hayes of Penn State. The sophomore led the nation in total goals (25) and total points (58).She also placed second in the nation with 1.250 goals per game and game winning goals with nine. Lastly, she ranked third in the country with 2.90 points per game. A woman that had almost as good of a season as Hayes was Nebraska’s Morgan Marlborough. Marlborough smoked her competition and posted numbers that ranked her third in the nation in total goals (20) and fourth in total points (46), points per game (2.56) and goals per game (1.111). A third player whose performance demands recognition is Laura Heybour of Michigan State. Heybour tied for fourth in the nation in total goals (18), placed fifth in total points (45) and seventh in points per game (2.37). Last but certainly not least in a B1G honor roll is Illinois’ Vanessa DiBernardo who placed fourth in the nation in game-winning goals with seven.
Individual leaders for the Hawkeyes included freshman Cloe Lacasse who led the team in total goals (12) and total points (30). Senior Morgan Showalter, no relation to the Orioles’ manager, led the Hawkeyes in assists with nine. Sophomore Leah DeMoss paced the team with three game-winning goals. Senior Emily Moran led the Hawkeyes in all goalkeeping statistics as she played 96% of the minutes in goal. Moran set university records for single season and career wins for a goalkeeper. The NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament begins this Friday the 11th of November. The Nittany Lions of Penn State play Army at 8 pm on the 11th, Ohio State plays Tennessee on Saturday the 12th at 7 pm, and Illinois plays Notre Dame on Sunday the 13th at 1 pm. All games will be available to be viewed on the Big Ten Digital Network. Here’s to hoping that one of those three schools can bring a championship to the B1G.
That was where things stopped going as planned. The game went to overtime and Illinois prevailed 2-1 to win its second Big Ten tournament championship. The Hawkeyes were ousted in the first round of the tournament by Michigan State. In the game, the Hawkeyes and Spartans were looking at a scoreless tie after playing 110 minutes of soccer. Michigan State then prevailed 4-3 in shootouts. After all the conference tournaments had been played, the picture became clear as to which teams across the nation were the best. Penn State came in at #13 in the latest coaches’ poll, thanks to a scoring percentage that ranked fifth in the nation and a shutout percentage that was good for 14th. Illinois was also in the poll at #16. Iowa as a team certainly had its share of accomplishments. According to hawkeyesports.com the Hawkeyes in 2011 recorded their best overall record (13-4-2) in program history. Iowa's tie for fifth place in the final league standings is the second-highest finish in school history and the No. 6 seed in the Big Ten Tournament is also the second-best seed for a Hawkeye team. The five conference wins was also good for second best in school history. What should never be neglected when reviewing a season in any sport are the individual players that made the season special for not only their teams, but themselves as well.
The headliner name when discussing B1G women’s soccer is Maya Hayes of Penn State. The sophomore led the nation in total goals (25) and total points (58).She also placed second in the nation with 1.250 goals per game and game winning goals with nine. Lastly, she ranked third in the country with 2.90 points per game. A woman that had almost as good of a season as Hayes was Nebraska’s Morgan Marlborough. Marlborough smoked her competition and posted numbers that ranked her third in the nation in total goals (20) and fourth in total points (46), points per game (2.56) and goals per game (1.111). A third player whose performance demands recognition is Laura Heybour of Michigan State. Heybour tied for fourth in the nation in total goals (18), placed fifth in total points (45) and seventh in points per game (2.37). Last but certainly not least in a B1G honor roll is Illinois’ Vanessa DiBernardo who placed fourth in the nation in game-winning goals with seven.
Individual leaders for the Hawkeyes included freshman Cloe Lacasse who led the team in total goals (12) and total points (30). Senior Morgan Showalter, no relation to the Orioles’ manager, led the Hawkeyes in assists with nine. Sophomore Leah DeMoss paced the team with three game-winning goals. Senior Emily Moran led the Hawkeyes in all goalkeeping statistics as she played 96% of the minutes in goal. Moran set university records for single season and career wins for a goalkeeper. The NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament begins this Friday the 11th of November. The Nittany Lions of Penn State play Army at 8 pm on the 11th, Ohio State plays Tennessee on Saturday the 12th at 7 pm, and Illinois plays Notre Dame on Sunday the 13th at 1 pm. All games will be available to be viewed on the Big Ten Digital Network. Here’s to hoping that one of those three schools can bring a championship to the B1G.
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