Three Tar Heels Chosen as Finalists for MAC Award
October 2, 2000 | Women's Soccer
Oct. 2, 2000
SAINT LOUIS, MO. - Three members of the 2000 University of North Carolina women's soccer team are amongst the 15 finalists for the 10th annual Missouri Athletic Club Collegiate Player of the Year award, the official National Soccer Coaches Association of America/adidas award for Division I players. The announcement of the finalists was made by the MAC Monday.
On the ballot from Carolina are a pair of juniors and one sophomore. They include junior defender Danielle Borgman of Cincinnati, Ohio and junior midfielder Jena Kluegel of Mahtomedi, Minn. Also on the list of finalists is sophomore striker Susan Bush of Houston, Texas. In addition, freshman forward Alyssa Ramsey of Cornelius, N.C. is listed among the five "Players to Watch" during the season.
Among the 15 candidates for the prestigious crystal soccer ball are three from the University of Nebraska, which tied Carolina for the most number of finalists. Two players were chosen from Santa Clara. Two players are repeat selections from the 1999 ballot, including senior midfielder Anne Makinen of Notre Dame, who finished fourth in last year's voting, and Mary-Frances Monroe, a junior forward from the University of Connecticut.
Selected from Nebraska were senior goalie Karina LeBlanc, junior midfielder Meghan Anderson and senior defender Jenny Benson. Also named to the ballot from Santa Clara were junior defender Danielle Slaton and sophomore midfielder Aly Wagner. Also selected were Christie Welsh, a sophomore forward from Penn State, Lori Lindsey, a junior midfielder from Virginia, Isabelle Harvey, a senior midfielder from the University of Southern California, Abby Wambach, a junior forward from Florida, and Nikki Thole, a senior forward from Missouri.
The winner will be selected by a vote of the NSCAA member Division I coaches and will be honored at an awards banquet at the Missouri Athletic Club on Friday, Jan. 5, 2001 and at the NSCAA convention later in January in Indianapolis.
In addition to selecting the 15 candidates for award, coaches also identified five "players to watch" during the season. The five were Missy Gregg, a sophomore forward from Dayton, Aleisha Cramer, a freshman midfielder from Brigham Young, Alyssa Ramsey, a freshman forward from North Carolina, Joanna Lohmann, a freshman midfielder from Penn State, and Veronica Zepeda, a freshman midfielder from Santa Clara.
ush has played in 10 games for Carolina this season and leads the Tar Heels in game-winning goals with four. She had nine goals and four assists and is third on the team in scoring with 22 points. Kluegel ranks third in the nation with 14 assists this season and her 16 points are the fifth most on the UNC team. Borgman has started all 12 games on defense for a Carolina team allowing only 0.75 goals per game in 12 contests. Ramsey is Carolina's second-leading scorer this season with 27 points on eight goals and 11 assists.
