More awards for Gopher women

Gopher Sports.com announced today, that Kelsey Hood and Jeannie Clark became the first Gopher All-Americans in over a decade when SoccerBuzz announced their annual women’s soccer awards this week. Hood and Clark join former Golden Gopher great Jennifer McElmury (1994-97), who was named to the SoccerBuzz second team in 1996 and to the first team in 1997, as the only All-Americans in Minnesota history.

Following a season where the program broke multiple records, Minnesota Soccer collected a total of eight awards when SoccerBuzz announced its 2008 laurels. Seniors Lindsey Schwartz (second team), Lindsey Dare (second team) and Kaitlin Wagner (third team) were named to the Great Lakes All-Region teams, while Tamara Strahota was named to the All-Great Lakes freshman team.

With six All-Region selectees, the Gophers set a new program record. In fact, no Minnesota team has had as many four SoccerBuzz All-Region selections prior to the 2008 season.

In addition to her second team All-America selection, Hood was named to the Great Lakes Region first team. Her senior season was her third consecutive year being named the squad after collecting third team honors following the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Hood was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year this season after serving as the focal point of a Minnesota defensive effort that tied a Big Ten Conference record with 17 team shutouts.

Clark, a fourth-team All-America pick, was also named to the Great Lakes Region first team as a defender. The Norwalk, Iowa native was one of the most dominant players in the conference after playing nearly every minute of the 2008 season as Minnesota’s center back. She also tallied a pair of goals on her way to first team All-Big Ten accolades this season.

Schwartz cemented one of the most prolific offensive careers in the history of Minnesota Soccer with a banner 2008 campaign. In addition to tying a single season school record with six game-winning goals, she also led the 2008 Gophers in goals (8), assists (7), shots (100) and total points (23). The Bettendorf, Iowa native finishes her career ranked among the top players in Minnesota history in almost every offensive statistical category, including total points (76, 7th), goals (28, 7th), assists (20, 7th), game-winning goals (11, 5th) and total shots (282, 2nd).

Dare was a second team All-Great Lakes selection following one of the best statistical seasons for a goalkeeper in the history of the Big Ten. Her 17 shutouts set a new all-time Big Ten Conference record. Dare finished her career as the Gophers’ school record holder in career goals against average (0.52) and career goalkeeper winning percentage (.739) with a 31-10-3 record between the pipes. The Apple Valley, Minn. native was also named second team All-Big Ten this year.

Wagner collected her first All-Great Lakes region accolade following a fourth consecutive solid season in the Minnesota midfield. She finished her senior campaign with six goals and five assists for 17 points. Her solid play at the Big Ten Tournament in November earned her All-Big Ten Tournament accolades and helped the Gophers to their first appearance in the conference championship match since 1995.

As one of the Big Ten’s most exciting freshman forwards, Strahota was a dangerous scoring presence for the Gophers this season. Her penchant for scoring big goals – each of her five goals this season were game-winners – earned her a spot on the All-Big Ten freshman team in addition to a place on Soccer America‘s All-American freshman squad. Her place on the SoccerBuzz All-Great Lakes freshman team marks the third time in four years a Minnesota rookie has been named to the squad. Clare Grimwood was named to the team in 2005, and Katie Bethke was on the publication’s all-rookie team last year.