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.
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| 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.
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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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:
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