NIIC Announces Women’s Soccer Post Season Awards

AURORA, Ill. November 17, 2005 - The Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference announced its 2005 women’s soccer All-Conference Team and postseason awards. The Aurora University Spartan women’s soccer team placed a record 10 players on the team, with senior defender Allison Banta (Griffith, IN/Griffith HS) being named NIIC Player of the Year by the conference women’s soccer coaches. The award was Banta’s second of her career. Spartan Head Coach Kanute Drugan was named NIIC Coach of the Year, the award marked Drugan’s fourth time being named NIIC Coach of the Year in his nine years as head coach at AU. The Spartans won their seventh NIIC women’s soccer championship in the conference’s 11th and final year of existence, finishing the season with a 15-7-1 overall record and a third appearance in the NCAA Division III women’s soccer championships in the last five years.

Banta was a cog in the Spartan defense that allowed just two goals and 3.2 shots per game while going 6-0 in NIIC competition. She scored one goal and dished out two assists in NIIC play as well. The Player of the Year award was her second as a Spartan, with the previous award coming after the 2003 season. Banta missed the 2004 season due to an injury.

Joining Banta on the final NIIC women’s soccer All-Conference team is sophomore forward Lindsey Mica (Naperville, IL/Naperville North HS, four goals and two assists), freshman forward Allison Bailey (Dixon, IL/Dixon HS, three goals and three assists), sophomore wing Laura Wagley (Sycamore, IL/Sycamore HS, six goals and one assist), junior midfielder Lauren Thomas (Milwaukee, WI/Thomas More three goals and two assists), senior defender Meghan Stoltman (Algonquin, IL/Jacobs HS, one assist), senior defender Corey Krysiak (Milwaukee, WI/Thomas More, one goal and one assist), junior midfielder Erin Kwiatkowski (Rockford, MI/Rockford HS, three goals and three assists), junior defender Shalisse Mathieu (West Chicago, IL/Glenbard North HS) and junior wing Morgan Roewer (Woodstock, IL/Woodstock HS).

On the field for the entire 2005 campaign, Mica continued her trek up the women’s soccer record book, finishing the season with 10 goals and five assists for 25 points, while Bailey and Wagley each added nine goals with Bailey dishing out six assists for 24 points and Wagley’s three assists for 21 points. Thomas had eight goals and four assists for 20 points. Defensively, AU allowed 1.06 goals per game and shut out ten opponents. Leading the way on defense were Stoltman, Banta, Krysiak and Mathieu. Each of the seniors tallied a goal and atleast one assist in their final campaign with Banta adding two assists, while Mathieu chipped in two assists.

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