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Schmitt, Miech Earn Top Awards on All-WIAC Soccer
Squad
Senior defender Tara Schmitt earned her fourth straight All-Wisconsin
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women�s soccer honor and was named the
conference�s Player of the Year in leading four UW-Stevens Point
selections to the all-conference team. Pointers� coach Sheila Miech was
also honored as the league�s Coach of the Year for the sixth time in her
career.
The Pointers won their 11th conference title in the 13-year history
of the league and clinched their eighth consecutive conference tournament
crown. UW-Stevens Point is 16-4-1 overall entering Saturday�s NCAA
Division III tournament match at the University of Chicago.
Along with Schmitt, other first-team selections for the Pointers were
senior midfielders Megan Frey and Melissa Becker and senior forward Alyssa
Souza.
Schmitt, a Brookfield native and Waukesha Catholic Memorial High
School graduate, was the leader of the Pointers� defense that posted nine
shutouts and held opponents to 23 goals and just 8.7 shots per match.
Schmitt is the fourth four-time all-conference player in school history,
joining Becky Brem (1992-95), Charisse Simcakowski (1992-95) and Jenny
Bruce (2000-03).
The Pointers have had the WIAC Player of the Year all five years that
the award has been chosen. Schmitt is the first defender ever to earn the
honor. With a 3.85 grade point average in Physical Education, she was also
named the conference�s scholar athlete award winner.
Frey, a former Wauwatosa East High School standout, collected her
second straight all-conference honor and led the Pointers while ranking
fifth in the conference with nine assists from her outside midfield
position.
Becker, a Rhinelander native, totaled five goals and seven assists
for 17 regular season points, including the lone goal in the WIAC
tournament championship match against UW-Oshkosh. She also had two goals
in a first round NCAA tournament win over Concordia.
Souza, a Madison Memorial High School graduate, ranked second on the
team in scoring with 10 goals and five assists for 25 points, which ranks
10th in the league. She scored a key overtime goal earlier this season in
a 1-0 win over UW-La Crosse.
Miech was also the conference�s Coach of the Year in 1992, 1994,
1997, 2000 and 2001. The Pointers have rallied to win nine straight
matches and the WIAC regular season and tournament titles after suffering
their first three-match losing streak since 1991 midway through the
season. |
