Monday, December 29, 2014

Classy Gusties

      We constantly preach being the best individuals we can be in all areas of our lives.  From the field to the classroom to walking around campus or town, we know we are representing more than just ourselves, instead we are representing our team, program, athletics department and Gustavus as an institution.  With this belief driving us, we work to display high class and sportsmanship towards our opponents, referees and fans.  It's a great honor to receive recognition for our sportsmanship with the NSCAA Silver Award for Sportsmanship and Ethics.  See the release below from our Gustavus Sports Information Department explaining this award!





Women’s Soccer Earns NSCAA Silver Award For Sportsmanship And Ethics

Posted on December 25th, 2014 by 


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KANSAS CITY – The Gustavus Adolphus women’s soccer team was recently recognized by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America for its outstanding sportsmanship and demonstration of strong ethics this past season. For the third consecutive season, the Gusties were awarded the Silver Award, which requires a team to have no red cards and no more than five yellow cards accumulated during the season.
125 total teams receiving either the Gold, Silver or Bronze Award. Gustavus was one of only three schools to represent the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics Conference in the Sportsmanship and Ethics Awards, with Bethel University and St. Olaf College being the others.

Courtesy of Gustavus Athletics. 

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Brittany Chase earns All-MIAC Honorable Mention, Valerie Belanger on All-MIAC Sportsmanship Team



Recently, our own Brittany Chase earned the All-MIAC Honorable Mention honors following the end of the 2014 season.  A very well deserved honor for Brittany, as she is truly a threat to be dealt with anywhere on the field.  She is the backbone of our attack, constantly showing her competitiveness and desire to succeed through her noticeable work rate every minute she's on the field.

She is the spark that gets everybody around her working that little bit harder, making repeated attacking runs up the field, while never ceasing to put on constant and relentless pressure to opposing back lines and center midfielders. Her competitive nature and drive to win combined with her skill and ability on the ball allows her to making plays all over the field, whether it's holding the ball under pressure in order to make a calm composed pass, or making a hard run up the field to open space for a teammate to attack into. She puts the needs of the team above her own, and it shows through her play.  As an upperclassman leader on the team this year, Brittany never hesitated to step into any role we needed her, as she saw time at striker, central attacking midfielder, and even outside defender for parts of the year.  Being a junior, we continue to be incredibly pleased with the improvements she continues to show and we are excited to see what she can accomplish during the offseason.  We are confident she will bring her strong leadership and soccer skills back with her next fall to continue her already very impressive career here at Gustavus.



Selected as a representative on the All-MIAC sportsmanship team is senior Valerie Belanger.  The All-MIAC Sportsmanship team is part of a conference wide sportsmanship initiative that the MIAC kicked off in the 2006-07 seasons.  One member from each sport from each MIAC school is selected to the All-MIAC Sportsmanship team.  These representatives are selected by their coaches and teammates as individuals who habitually display ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the field of competition, which Valerie does on a daily basis here at Gustavus.


Val is the motivational rock on this team as a senior leader, constantly pushing everybody around her and doing so with a smile on her face.  This is Val's second consecutive year to receive the honor of representing Gustavus on the All-MIAC sportsmanship team and we couldn't think of anyone more suited for the honor.  She embraces her leadership role on the team and is constantly working to continue improving as well as being ready to take on whatever role asked of her by performs it to the maximum.  Her positive presence and hard work allows everything around her to begin to flow and spark optimism and motivation into everyone else on the team. We're very proud to have Val representing our Gustie Soccer team on this year's All-MIAC Sportsmanship team.




Brittany Chase Earns Women’s Soccer All-MIAC Honorable Mention Honors
Posted on November 14th, 2014 by Nick Hoelmer



Bloomington, Minn. – Gustavus women’s soccer junior Brittany Chase (Victoria, Minn.) was named to the MIAC Women’s Soccer All-Conference Honorable Mention team on Wednesday. It is the third straight season that the Gusties have had a player named to the honorable mention squad after landing two last season and three in 2012.

“Brittany is one of our best all around players on the team,” said head coach Laura Burnett-Kurie. “Her skill combined with work rate and leadership certainly makes her deserving of this honor and we are proud she received this recognition. Over the past three years in the program, Britt has adapted to her new position of forward with the utmost enthusiasm and energy and has embraced her role on the team strongly and has become our most consistent forward.”

Chase has indeed been a model of consistency for the Gusties, having started in 34 of a possible 35 games the past two seasons and playing in all 17 games her first year. In three years, Chase has racked up totals of six goals and two assists to combine for 14 points.

“Britt is really a multidimensional player that does so many great things that help our team,” said Burnett-Kurie. “She has the uncanny ability to play with her back to the goal, which is rare in the women’s game, she has the speed and competitiveness to get behind oppositions’ backlines and her recognition of when to play quickly compared to when to hold onto the ball is also notable.”

As part of a conference-wide sportsmanship initiative, the MIAC announced the ninth-annual All-MIAC Sportsmanship team for women’s soccer. Members of the All-MIAC Sportsmanship team are selected by their coaches and teammates as individuals who demonstrate ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the field of competition. For the second straight season, Gustavus’s representative on the All-MIAC Sportsmanship team was senior forward Valerie Belanger.


Courtesy of Gustavus Athletics 


Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Team Earns NSCAA Academic Award

Yes, it's true.  The Gustavus Women's Soccer team is not only competitive on the soccer field, active within the greater community with service projects, and wonderfully caring individuals, but they are also studs in the classroom.  With a Team GPA of 3.37, they have once again shown their academic prowess by earning the NSCAA Academic Award.  Not only that, but they have earned their 3.37 team GPA through a range of majors including, but not limited to: Nursing, Biology, Psychology, Communication Studies, Management, Athletic Training, etc.  So yes, it's true: the Gustavus Women's Soccer Team is filled with exceptional, well-rounded student-athletes.  

Read more courtesy of Gustavus Athletics:

Women’s Soccer Earns NSCAA Academic Award

Posted on November 25th, 2014 by 

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Kansas City, Kan. - The Gustavus women’s soccer team has earned recognition from the National Soccer Coaches Association Of America for its academic performance during the 2013-14 school year. With a team grade point average of 3.37, the Gusties are one of 582 women’s soccer teams, regardless of division, to be awarded the honor.
The NSCAA annually recognizes college and high school soccer programs that have excelled in the classroom, in addition to their work on the field.  This year, a total of 861 college soccer teams (279 men, 582 women) posted a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher, thereby earning the NSCAA Team Academic Award.
Gustavus was one of nine schools to represent the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in the women’s awards.  All nine squads from the MIAC had team GPAs above a 3.3.