Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Our 2015 Banquet was a Day Brightener!

The 2015 Gusties had the opportunity to celebrate as a team one last time this past Saturday, December 12th.  We wanted this time to say our farewells to Britt Chase, celebrate our accomplishments on and of the field, and thank our family and friends for their unwavering support throughout the season. 

Team photo from the 2015 Gustavus Women's Soccer Banquet


Our Gustie Family

We talk a lot about our Gustie Family and the support from our parents, alumnae and other friends, but we honestly believe the passion, support and encouragement we receive from them is unmatched.  We have family who organize our post-game tailgates and family who continually provide mouth-watering food for every get together and family who donate for fabulous food after away games.  We have family who invite our entire team over to their homes, and family who use all their vacation days to make sure they watch the team play every Wednesday, even if it’s up in Moorhead, MN.  We have family who help create fundraisers that will not only benefit their daughter when they are at Gustavus but that will help benefit the program for years after and we have family who send supportive, uplifting emails.  

There is no way for us to thank our Gustie Family enough, but we are incredibly grateful for everyone who is a member.  We want our Gustie Family to continue to grow, develop and reach new heights just like our program.

Now on to the 2015 Women’s Soccer Banquet summary…

The Banquet 

This banquet was about more than just the awards; it was about the passion, grit, determination and achievement of this team and this season.  When we all took the field together this past August on the first day of preseason, we knew the program was moving the correct direction.  We were continuing to bring in exceptional individuals in all areas of their lives, adding more depth to the roster and developing strong leaders.  We knew we were going to be an improved team and reach greater success this season than the previous three… but wow, we don’t think anyone could have predicted the story of our season.   And the best part of the success, it truly was an entire program effort.  Every single individual that was part of our program from our players to athletic training staff to student workers to support staff all contributed to this breakthrough season.

Unfortunately, everyone’s efforts are the hardest part to put into words.  So while this blog post will be mostly focused on the Banquet Awards we announced (which are incredible honors), we are honoring all members of our program and recognizing them for their huge contributions this season.


We have six team awards that are voted on by the players: Teach Me How to Gustie Award, Rookie of the Year, Most Improved, Offensive MVP, Defensive MVP, and Overall Team MVP.  Now…drumroll please… here are the recipients of these prestigious awards.


Teach Me How to Gustie

Teach Me How to Gustie Award 2015: Sophie Leininger
This award is given to the player who best represents Gustavus Women’s soccer both on and off the field, with their dedication, work ethic, academic success, extracurricular involvement, etc..  The award this season went to Sophie Leininger.  Sophie had a tremendous season with 9 assists, ranking her second all time for assists in a season, and one game-winning goal.  Sophie also has maintained a 4.0 in the classroom over her three semesters.  Sophie is also a member of Habitat for Humanity, works for student athlete services in the athletic department, and is an avid watcher of The Office. 

The 2014 recipient of the Teach Me How to Gustie Award was: Valerie Belanger


Most Improved Player

Most Improved 2015: Trina Rinke
This award goes to the player who improved the most during the season.   It is very rare when your most improved player of the year also starts all 21 games.   Trina Rinke played as a center back for us all season.  Based on our style of play (very possession oriented), we ask that our center backs are able to start our attack by finding feet when building out of the back.  Trina’s improvement was most noticeable with her ability to pass with both feet as well as her range of passing.  Her wonderful personality contributed greatly to the camaraderie and playing relationship she built with her teammates – both of which helped immensely with our backline’s awareness of each other and their responsibilities. 

The 2014 Most Improved Player recipient was: Laura Johnson 

Rookie of the Year

Rookie of the Year 2015: Ashley Becker 
This award goes to a new player within the program who had the largest impact on the season in their first year.  We had a lot of unbelievable Rookies to the team this year, so this award was certainly competitive.  The winner of the Rookie of the Year Award played every minute of every game, totaling 1,938 minutes and 50 seconds.  She recorded 11 shutouts and a save percentage of 81 percent.  She was a force to be reckoned with in the back, as she was solid in net every game and jump started our attack with her quick distribution.  Our 2015 Rookie of the Year is Ashley Becker. 

Our next three awards are the Most Valuable player awards.  We have an offensive, defensive and an overall MVP.  

The 2014 Rookie of the Year recipient was: Sophie Leininger

Offensive MVP 

Offensive MVP 2015: Brittany Chase
Our Offensive MVP came into Gustavus as an outside back.  As this player grew and adapted her game to the Gustie Tempo the coaching staff saw that she could be a real asset in the final third, so they immediately started developing her as a forward. While she never became a forward who put goal after goal after goal away, she was always creating dangerous scoring opportunities.  This season she record 3 goals and 6 assists.  Her biggest assist came in the conference playoff semi-finals when she assisted Maddison Ackiss just 2 minutes and 45 seconds into the game.   

The 2014 Offensive MVP recipient was: Maddison Ackiss. 

Defensive MVP 

Defensive MVP 2015: Emily Odermatt
The Defensive MVP was Emily Odermatt.  Emily contributes to our team’s success as the vocal   She also begins our attack with her desire to find feet out of the back and build our attack.  If you made it to a game this season she is the one who will jump over the opponent to win a header…her aerial attack unbelievable!  All in all, Emily is an unbelievable player all-around, possessing the ability to combine in tight spaces, release a forward into space, stick a bone-crunching tackle, or win every air ball that comes within 20yds of her. 
leader of the backline.

The 2014 Defensive MVP recipient was: Emily Odermatt.

Overall Team MVP 

Overall Team MVP 2015: Ashley Becker
Lastly our Team MVP goes to Ashley Becker.  Her stats are listed above, but more importantly than her stats, her desire to improve each day is what makes her such an exceptional player.  Ashley’s desire is contagious, when your goalkeeper is trying to make every single save in a practice it force’s your offense to work that much harder to have the perfect shot to beat her.  She inspires the defense in practice to not allow the offense easy shots, motivating them to play to their maximum capacity.  Overall, it’s Ashley’s strength coming off her line to smother breakaways, ability to get down quickly for those slotted balls in the corners, and acrobatic punches and parry’s over the bar paired with her desire for her teammates to reach greatness and her humble nature that helped her earn the Team MVP award.

The 2014 Overall Team MVP recipient was: Brittany Chase. 

Coaches Award
Coaches Award 2015: Kendyl Landeck

The last award is not voted on by the players, but still highly coveted: Coaches Award.  This season the Coaches Award went to Kendyl Landeck.  Kendyl, as a junior this season, played her first   But it has been through Kendyl’s determination and desire that has inspired the entire team, coaching staff and, in different ways, the entire athletic department.  By the end of the season, Kendyl had earned a starting role as an outside back and dominated.  In both the MIAC Playoff Semi-Finals vs. Concordia Moorhead and Finals vs. St. Thomas, Kendyl made huge tackles off corners in the waning seconds of the game, solidifying both wins and shutouts. 
collegiate soccer game, and wow, she was fantastic. Unfortunately, Kendyl has had to work tirelessly over the last two seasons to come back from multiple significant injuries.

The 2014 Coaches Award recipient was: Moni Pelkey.

Before we sign off, here is a banquet ending quote from our very own Assistant Coach, Benton Frayne:

“As the 2015 season comes to an end marking my first season as an Assistant coach at Gustavus.  It is a sad moment, I will miss practice, team bonding on Friday nights, the bus rides and most importantly watching the women play.  Such a wonderful experience and I look forward to next season.   Fortunately it is only 291 days away.” 


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