ALBANY – The College of Saint Rose continues to leave its mark throughout both the athletic and academic arenas within the women’s college soccer community. One month after closing out a 24-1 campaign, three players have been recognized by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America for superlative performance in the classroom and on the pitch.
Junior backs
Katie Whiting and
Kelly Guerin were both chosen as NSCAA/Adidas first-team Scholar All-Americans. They were furthermore joined by junior midfielder
Coco Ebersole on the NSCAA/Adidas first-team Scholar All-East Region squad.
Saint Rose is thus one of only 17 schools that had two or more players named to the Scholar All-America Team, which is comprised of 78 players in either the University (NCAA Division I) or College (all other levels) categories.
To be nominated for consideration, student-athletes must have at least a 3.30 cumulative grade-point-average (on a 4.00 scale) throughout their career; start more than 50.0 percent of all games and be a significant contributor to the team. They also need to be nominated by an institution that is a current NSCAA College Services member; be a junior or above in academic standing at their current institution and be in their second year at the current school if a transfer student.
The credentials of the Saint Rose contingent are second to none. Guerin is a biology major who carries 3.89 GPA, Whiting boasts a 3.55 GPA as a communication sciences and disorders major, while Ebersole is also a biology major who owns a 3.75 GPA. They helped anchor a Saint Rose defensive unit that allowed a mere nine goals and produced 18 clean sheets throughout its 25 games in 2009. The Golden Knights wound up third in all of NCAA Division II with a 0.357 goals-against-average and were fourth with a 0.72 shutout percentage.
Guerin and Whiting both garnered first-team All-America honors from the NSCAA as well and were also tabbed as first-team All-League picks in the Northeast-10 Conference.
This past season, the Golden Knights came one victory shy of tying an NCAA Division II single-season record and also set a school standard with their 18 shutouts. Saint Rose furthermore became only the third team in NE-10 history (1985) to win three consecutive postseason league titles. The club also qualified for its seventh NCAA Tournament within the past eight years, and advanced to the national semifinals for the second consecutive time.
The NSCAA/Adidas Scholar All-America selections will be recognized at the annual All-America Luncheon, scheduled for Saturday, January 16 as part of the 2010 NSCAA Convention in Philadelphia.