Knox Athletic Director Chad Eisele announced former Grinnell assistant Nikki McLellan (right) as the school’s new Women’s Soccer Coach.

During her highly-successful playing career at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, McLellan was selected to the Middle Atlantic All-Conference Team four times. She holds single-season and career school records for goals (12 in a season, 32 in her career), assists (11 season, 25 career) and points (29 season, 89 career). She was also named the Bargerstock Award winner as the Female Athlete of the Year in 2005-06. She earned her degree in Sports Management from Juniata College in 2006 and is pursuing a master's degree in Sports Leadership from Duquesne University.

McLellan was also named Director of the E. & L. Andrew Fitness Center and Intramural Director. She will begin her duties July 1.

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The Grinnell and Lawrence men's and women's soccer teams have been honored with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Team Academic Award.

The award goes to NCAA Division I, II, III and NAIA teams that earned a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher during the 2005-06 academic year. Lawrence and Grinnell were two of 52 schools in the nation to have both their men’s and women’s programs honored.

The Grinnell and Lawrence women were among 234 women’s teams honored, while the Pioneer and Viking men were among 81 men’s teams honored.

Grinnell sophomore defender Becca Mackenize (right) and Carroll junior defender Sammi Drews (left) were honored by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America with their selections to the 2006 NSCAA/Adidas NCAA Division III All-Central Region Team. Mackenzie earned first-team accolades, while Drews was picked to the third team.

Mackenzie anchored a Pioneer defensive unit that failed to allow a goal in 14 contests this season en route to a 9-0 conference record, a second straight MWC Championship and a third consecutive MWC tourney title. Mackenzie also managed to contribute five goals and an assist on the offensive end for Grinnell.

Drews and the Lady Pioneers won eight games via shutout in 2006, as Carroll finished 8-1 in MWC action and advanced to the MWC tourney finals. Drew contributed three goals and an assist to the Lady Pioneer offense as well.

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Grinnell senior goalkeeper Liz Carrier and Carroll freshman midfielder Liz Melcher were both selected to the D3kicks.com Central All-Region Second Team.

With Carrier (right) in goal, Grinnell won its second consecutive Midwest Conference Championship and third straight conference tourney title. Carrier, a two-time All-MWC first teamer, posted 17 shutouts and allowed a league-low seven goals in 19 games.

Melcher (left) tied for the team lead in goals as a freshman, netting nine goals on 25 shots. Melcher helped lead the Lady Pioneers to a 12-6 record, including an 8-1 conference mark and an appearance in the MWC tourney finals.

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Grinnell followed its second straight Midwest Conference Championship and third consecutive MWC tourney title by claiming two of the league’s three yearly awards and placing a league-high seven student-athletes, including four first teamers, on the 2006 MWC Women’s Soccer All-Conference Teams. Grinnell head coach Heather Benning was named the 2006 MWC Coach of the Year, while Pioneer sophomore Rebecca Mackenzie (right) was the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. St. Norbert freshman Stephanie Gatyas, the league’s scoring champ in 2006, was the Offensive Player of the Year.

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Grinnell (15-3-1) got off to a fast start in its NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament match against Augustana (15-2-3) on Saturday (Nov. 11) in River Falls, Wis., but a pair of late Viking goals led to a 2-1 loss for the Pioneers.

Grinnell sophomore forward Katherine Ni scored from 18 yards out off a pass from Miki Nakamura just 14 seconds into the contest to stake the Pioneers to a 1-0 advantage. The lead lasted until the 71:41 mark in the second half, when Augustana knotted the match at 1-1 on a penalty kick goal. The Vikings struck again just over 13 minutes later, scoring the game-winner with 5:06 remaining in regulation.

Grinnell’s first round NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament match against Augustana on Saturday, November 11 has been moved from the campus of UW-Eau Claire to UW-River Falls in River Falls, Wis., after Eau Claire was blanketed with eight inches of snow Friday. The contest is still scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.

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The Grinnell women’s soccer team followed a 9-0-0 conference record and a second consecutive Midwest Conference Championship by sweeping through the MWC Tournament for the third season in a row to earn the league’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

The Pioneers will travel to the campus of UW-Eau Claire in Eau Claire, Wis., for their first round NCAA tourney matchup against CCIW runner-up Augustana on Saturday, November 11 at 2 p.m.

The Vikings, who are ranked 23 rd in the D3kicks.com Top 25 poll, are 2-0 against MWC foes this season after downing Carroll (5-1) and Beloit (6-0) during the regular-season. Grinnell played Loras, one of two teams to defeat the 14-2-3 Vikings this season, to a scoreless tie in September.

The winner of the match takes on the winner of UW-Eau Claire vs. Concordia (MN).

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Monmouth senior women’s soccer player Kristin Mertel (right) was honored for her athletic and academic excellence with her selection to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District V College Division second team.

Mertel picked up her second ESPN award in as many years. Over her four years the Fighting Scots compiled a 35-25-4 record, the best four-year stretch in the history of the program.

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The Midwest Conference champion has captured the MWC Women’s Soccer Tournament title 12 times in the 15 season’s that the tourney has been contested. Second-seeded Carroll, No. 3 seed St. Norbert and No. 4 seed Lake Forest descend upon Grinnell, Iowa on Friday and Saturday, November 3-4 hoping to make it 12 times in 16 seasons. Grinnell’s tourney title in 2004 marks the last time a No. 1 seed was not crowned tournament champion and that victory has propelled the Pioneers to back-to-back conference championships, including a 9-0-0 run this season.

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Grinnell clinched its second consecutive Midwest Conference Women’s Soccer Championship with a 4-0 victory over St. Norbert on Saturday (Oct. 28). With the victory, Heather Benning’s (right) squad earned the top seed and hosting duties for the 2006 Midwest Conference Tournament on Friday and Saturday, November 3-4. Grinnell now has nine titles overall and has won three of the league’s last four crowns. The Pioneers, who won four straight titles between 1990-93, become the first squad to repeat as MWC champs since St. Norbert accomplished the feat in 1994 and 1995.

The winner of the MWC Tournament receives the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

St. Norbert freshmen Stephanie Gatyas and Jessica Schadrie tied the record for the third-fastest back-to-back goals in NCAA Division III history during a 4-0 win at Ripon on October 4. Gatyas netted the game’s first goal at 8:18 and Schadrie made the score 2-0 nine seconds later at 8:27. The duo assisted each others record-tying goals and each netted a second score later in the game.

Grinnell senior goalkeeper Liz Carrier (right) was selected to the D3Kicks.com National Team of the Week. Carrier, who was named the MWC Defensive Performer of the Week for the second time this season on Sept. 25, has not allowed a goal in her last 350+ minutes between the pipes, including a trio of shutout wins over conference opponents. Carrier also left the box to score the game-winning goal on a penalty kick in Grinnell’s 1-0 triumph over Monmouth.

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Bartley has several years of soccer coaching experience at the collegiate level, including a stint as the head women’s soccer coach at NCAA Division I-AA Youngstown State University in Ohio. She coached the Penguins from 1999-2004. Before that, she was the head coach of the St. Xavier University women’s soccer team from 1996-99, and was the assistant women’s soccer coach at Northern Illinois University from 1994-96. At St. Xavier, she started the program from scratch and led her squad to a 17-6 record during its inaugural campaign. During the second year, her team finished 14-6-1 and lost in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference finals. In the fall of 1993, she was the assistant women’s soccer coach at the University of Chicago.

At Beloit, Bartley was a four-year letterwinner on the women’s soccer team, and she remains in the Buccaneer record book. A goalkeeper, she ranks third in career saves with 301, first in career goals-against-per-game average at 1.14, and first in career shutouts with 20.5. In the single-season records, she has the top two goals-against averages with 1.0 in 1991 and 1.1 in 1992, and has the top two individual season shutout marks with 9.5 in 1992 and 7.5 in 1991.

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