Carthage Women's Soccer Release

December 3, 2011

Contact:

Steve Marovich, Sports Information Director (262) 551-5740

E-Mail: stevemarovich@tds.net or carthagesid@carthage.edu

Carthage Web Page: http://athletics.carthage.edu/index.aspx

Carthage 24-Hour Sports Hotline (262) 551-5388

Women’s Soccer Ends 2011 Season with a 3-1 Loss to IWU;

Lady Reds End the Season with an 8-9-2 Record

2011 Season Finale: The Carthage College women’s soccer team (8-9-2, 2-4-1 College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin) concluded its home schedule on Wednesday, Oct. 26 with a 1-0 loss in double-overtime to CCIW-opponent North Park University (7-8-1, 3-3-0 CCIW) at Art Keller Field in Kenosha, Wis. On Saturday, Oct. 29, the Lady Reds closed out their season schedule with a 3-1 loss to conference-opponent and No. 15 Illinois Wesleyan University (13-3-1, 5-1-1 CCIW) at the Neis Soccer Field in Bloomington, Ill.

Rachel Jason Named All-CCIW: Carthage forward Rachel Jason (Jr., Deerfield, Ill., 9 goals, 4 assists) was named 2011 second-team All-College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin.

2011 NCAA Championship First and Second Round: CCIW-champion and No. 6 Wheaton College (Ill.) played host to first and second-round games in the NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Championship on Friday-Saturday, Nov. 11-12 at Joe Bean Stadium in Wheaton, Ill. Capital University (12-7-2) edged Alma College (18-4-1), 1-0, in a first-round game on Friday, Nov. 11 with Wheaton (Ill., 19-1-2) upending Penn State University-Behrend (13-7-2), 5-0, in the other opening-round contest. Wheaton (Ill., 20-1-2) blanked Capital (12-8-2), 3-0, in a Saturday, Nov. 12 second-round contest. Conference-runner-up and No. 13 Illinois Wesleyan University was shipped to Ada, Ohio, for a first-round contest against Ithaca College (12-3-3), but the Titans (14-4-2) lost a 2-1 contest to the Bombers on Saturday, Nov. 12. Ohio Northern University (19-2-2), the host school, nipped the University of Scranton (13-4-3), 1-0, in the other first-round contest. Ithaca (13-3-3) edged Ohio Northern (19-3-2), 1-0, in a Sunday, Nov. 13 second-round game.

2011 NCAA Championship Sectionals: CCIW-champion and No. 6 Wheaton College (Ill.) played host to a sectional championship at Joe Bean Stadium in Wheaton, Ill., on Friday-Saturday, Nov. 18-19. Wheaton (Ill., 21-1-2) defeated Wisconsin-Whitewater (14-5-3), 4-1, in a sectional-semifinal game on Friday, Nov. 18 with No. 12 Washington University (Mo., 18-4-0) edging the College of St. Benedict (13-7-3), 2-1, in the other sectional semifinal. Wheaton (Ill.. 22-1-2) defeated Washington (Mo., 18-5-0), 4-2, for the sectional title on Saturday, Nov. 19.

2011 NCAA Semifinals/Championship: CCIW-champion and No. 6 Wheaton College (Ill.) advanced to the national semifinals, and the Thunder (23-1-2) blanked Ithaca College (15-4-3), 2-0, in a Friday, Dec. 2 semifinal contest at the Blossom Soccer Stadium in San Antonio, Texas. No. 1 Messiah College (22-0-1) shut out No. 2 William Smith College (20-1-1), 1-0, in the other semifinal contest Wheaton (Ill., 23-2-2) fell to Messiah (23-0-1), 3-1, in the Saturday, Dec. 3 national-championship game.

Last Year: Carthage went 7-9-3 (0-6-1 CCIW) in the final year of coach Susie Foster’s tenure.

2011 CCIW Tournament: Conference-champion and No. 6 Wheaton College (Ill., 18-1-1, 6-1-1 CCIW), the top-seeded team in the CCIW Women’s Soccer Tournament, blanked fourth seeded Augustana College (Ill., 11-8-1, 4-3-0), 4-0, in a Wednesday, Nov. 2 semifinal contest in Wheaton, Ill. Second-seeded and No. 16 Illinois Wesleyan University (14-3-1, 5-1-1) edged third-seeded Elmhurst College (13-4-1, 4-2-1), 2-1 in double-overtime in the other semifinal contest in Bloomington, Ill. Wheaton (Ill.) played Illinois Wesleyan to a 2-2 tie in double-overtime in the Saturday, Nov. 5 tournament-championship game in Wheaton, Ill. The Thunder claimed the tournament championship, 7-6, in a shootout.

2010 NCAA Championship First and Second Rounds: Three CCIW teams qualified for the 2010 NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Championship. Illinois Wesleyan University received the league’s automatic qualifier in a shootout with Wheaton College (Ill.), and the Titans were shipped to Grandville, Ohio, where Denison University played host to first and second-round games. On Nov. 13, Illinois Wesleyan (17-1-3) shut out Washington & Jefferson College (14-6-1), 3-0, with Denison (15-5-2) blanking Penn State-Altoona (16-3-3), 1-0. The Titans (17-2-3) fell to Denison (16-5-2), 2-0, in a Nov. 14 second-round game. Wheaton (Ill.) played host to first and second-round games at Joe Bean Stadium in Wheaton, Ill. On Nov. 12, the Thunder (19-2-1) blanked Lawrence University (9-9-1), 3-0, with Carleton College (15-2-2) ending the season of CCIW-member Augustana College (Ill., 13-2-5) with a 2-1 victory in overtime. On Nov. 13, Wheaton (Ill., 20-2-1) upended Carleton (15-3-2) by a 4-1 margin.

2010 NCAA Sectional Championship: Wheaton College (Ill., 20-2-2) played Emory University (16-1-4) to a 1-1 tie in double-overtime on Nov. 19 in a sectional-semifinal game at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas. Emory advanced, 9-8, on penalty kicks. The host-Cowgirls (22-0-0) blanked the University of Redlands (12-10-0), 2-0, in the other semifinal contest. Hardin-Simmons (23-0-0) won the Nov. 20 sectional championship quarterfinals game, 2-1, over Emory (16-2-4).

2010 CCIW Tournament: No. 5 Wheaton College (Ill., 18-2-0, 7-0-0 CCIW), the top-seeded team in the CCIW Women’s Soccer Tournament, shut out fourth-seeded Millikin University (12-5-1, 4-3 CCIW), 3-0, on Nov. 2 in a semifinal match of the CCIW Women’s Soccer Tournament. In the other semifinal game on Nov. 3, second-seeded and No. 9 Illinois Wesleyan (16-1-2, 5-1-1) played third-seeded and No. 18 Augustana College (Ill., 13-1-5, 4-1-2) to a 1-1 tie in double-overtime. Illinois Wesleyan advanced to the tournament-championship game, 5-4, on penalty kicks, and the Titans traveled to Wheaton (Ill.) for that game on Nov. 6. Illinois Wesleyan and Wheaton (Ill.) played to a 0-0 tie in double-overtime, and the Titans advanced, 3-1, on penalty kicks.

The Coach: Sara Johnson (8-9-2/1 year at Carthage/21-15-4, 2 years overall) completed her first year as head coach in 2011. Johnson was the head coach at Wartburg College in 2010 and guided the Knights to a 14-6-2 record and a second-round appearance in the NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Championship. She served as an assistant coach at Wartburg for three years from 2007 to 2009.

The Polls: Messiah College (17-0-1) was ranked first in the Nov. 8 National Soccer Coaches Association of America NCAA Division III poll, followed by William Smith College (16-0-1) second, Trinity University (Texas, 20-0-0) third, Johns Hopkins University (19-0-0) fourth, Emory University (15-0-2) fifth, CCIW-member Wheaton College (Ill., 18-1-2) sixth, Hardin Simmons University (19-1-0) seventh, Amherst College (17-0-0) eighth, Loras College (17-2-1) ninth and California Lutheran University (20-1-0) ranked 10th. CCIW-member Illinois Wesleyan University (14-3-2) was ranked 13th in the national poll. CCIW-member Wheaton (Ill., 18-1-1) was ranked first in the Nov. 8 NSCAA Central Region poll, followed by conference-member Illinois Wesleyan (14-3-2) second, Washington University (Mo., 15-4-0) third, the University of Chicago (9-6-2) fourth, Aurora University (18-4-0) fifth, Principia College (14-3-1) sixth, CCIW-member Elmhurst College (13-4-1) seventh, Alma College (18-3-1) eighth, Adrian College (17-5-0) ninth and conference-member Augustana College (Ill., 11-8-1) ranked 10th. CCIW-member Wheaton (Ill., 17-1-1 overall record, 15-1-1 in-region) was ranked first in the Nov. 2 NCAA Central Region poll, followed by Washington (Mo., 13-4-0, 12-4-0) second, conference-member Illinois Wesleyan (13-3-1, 12-2-1) third, Chicago (9-5-2, 8-5-2) fourth, Kalamazoo College (12-6-1, 12-6-1) fifth and CCIW-member Elmhurst College (13-3-1, 13-3-1) ranked sixth.

The Conference: The College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, in its 66th year in 2011-12, first sponsored women's soccer as a championship sport in 1995, and Wheaton College (Ill.) has won or shared the 15-of-17 titles. Carthage College claimed a co-championship in 2001, and Illinois Wesleyan University won a co-championship in 2003. Augustana College (Ill.) won the 2009 title. Wheaton (Ill) re-claimed the championship in 2010 and repeated in 2011. The CCIW coaches picked Wheaton (Ill., 7 first-place votes, 49 points) to repeat in 2011, followed by Augustana (Ill., 1 first-place vote, 40 points) tied for second with Illinois Wesleyan (40), Elmhurst College finished fourth (28), Millikin University fifth (21), North Park University sixth, (17), Carthage seventh (15) and North Central College eighth (14).

CCIW Players of the Week: Wheaton College (Ill.) forward Anna Seabolt (Fr., Holland, Mich./Christian) was named College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin “Women’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week” on Nov. 1, while Elmhurst College defender Stephanie Thomson (Sr., Palatine, Ill.) earned “defensive player of the week honors. Seabolt scored four goals, including a hat trick against Millikin University, as the Thunder went 2-0-0 on the week en route to earning their 15th CCIW title. Wheaton defeated the Big Blue, 5-1, on Oct. 29 to secure the regular-season title. Seabolt also had a goal in a 3-2 win against Illinois Wesleyan University on Oct. 25. Thomson anchored an Elmhurst defense that posted back-to-back CCIW shutouts while qualifying for the conference tournament for the first time since the 2003 season. On Oct. 26, Elmhurst's defense surrendered just seven shots in a 3-0 win over Millikin. On Oct. 29, the Bluejays secured their place in the conference tournament with a 1-0 shutout at Augustana College (Ill.). Elmhurst's defense allowed the Vikings just seven shots for the entire game and only one shot on goal. With the game scoreless at halftime, Elmhurst held Augustana to without a shot for the entire second half.

CCIW Championship Structure: The CCIW determines its women’s soccer championship by points, with each team receiving three points for a regular-season conference win, one point for a tie and no points for a loss. The conference plays a post-season tournament to determine its automatic qualifier to the NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Championship. The top-four teams, by CCIW-championship points, qualify for the CCIW Women’s Soccer Tournament. The top-two seeds will play host to semifinal games on Oct. 31, 2012. In even years, If either host-school has earned the right to play host to semifinal matches in both men’s and women’s soccer, then the women’s game involving that school only will be played on the previous day. In odd years, that same conflict would require the men’s game to be played on the previous day. This would only apply to the schools where there is a conflict. The highest-remaining seed in the tournament, following the semifinals, will play host to the championship game on Nov. 3, 2012, with that winner securing the automatic qualifier. In the event of a tie in a tournament-semifinal game, penalty kicks will determine which team advances to the tournament-championship game. In the event of a tie in a tournament-championship game, the two teams are declared tournament co-champions, with penalty kicks determining which team receives the league’s automatic qualifier.

Art Keller Field: Art Keller Field, located on the Carthage campus, opened on Sept. 24, 1966. The west side of the field, received all-new seating for 986 fans prior to the 1996 season, and lights were added in 1997. In 2000, thanks to a major gift from David and Gael Romoser, a state-of-the-art AstroPlayâ surface was installed on Art Keller Field. A new scoreboard was installed in 2004, a new press box was constructed on the east side in 2005, a new entry way and exterior fencing were added in 2006, and the facility was re-surfaced with FieldTurf® in 2008. The pressbox was torn down in 2010 and replaced in 2011 with the current press box as part of the construction of the student services building. All-new seating for 1,432 spectators was also added in 2011 on the east side of the field just below the press box. Current seating for the facility is 2,418 plus space for approximately 500 standing room, for a total capacity of 2,948 people.

Oct. 26 North Park Game Notes: Following two scoreless regulation periods, the two teams battle through a scoreless overtime period. The Vikings won the game at 108:42 on goal by Emma Lundeen, her third goal of the year. North Park’s Katrina Dekirmendjiam was awarded a corner kick at 108:35, just prior to Lundeen’s game-winning goal.

Oct, 29 Illinois Wesleyan Game Notes: Carthage took an early, 1-0 lead when Rachel Jason (Jr., Deerfield, Ill.) scored at 17:40 first period, her ninth goal of the year and assisted by Kasie Jabeck. The Titans scored three unanswered goals in the second half to win the game. Emily Hinchman scored her 11th season goal at 55:28, Molly O’Brien her 16th at 69:27, and Hinchman scored again, her 12th goal of the year, at 74:58.

The Record Book: Carthage goal keeper Angela Spinelli (Sr., Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove-South) set a Carthage season record with 83 saves in 2011, breaking Alyssa Lawton’s 1992 record of 83 saves.