Carroll senior defender Kari Scheelk (right), the 2007 MWC Defensive Player of the Year, was selected to the third team on 2007 NSCAA/Adidas NCAA Division III Women’s All-Central Region Team.

The three time All-MWC selection anchored a defense that allowed a league-low 14 goals, which ranks among the top 10 fewest in a season in league history, including four goals in conference matches. On the offensive end, Scheelk recorded 10 points on four goals and two assists, including a pair of game-winning goals.

NSCAA/Adidas All-Central Region Team

Carroll’s women’s soccer team enjoyed the best season in school history in 2007 and the conference champion and league tournament champion was rewarded with a pair of awards and a league-high seven selections, including three first teamers, on the 2007 Midwest Conference Women’s Soccer All-Conference Team. MWC Tournament runner-up Lake Forest earned five All-MWC picks, while conference tournament qualifiers Grinnell and St. Norbert followed with four apiece. Monmouth had two student-athletes named to the all-league team, while Beloit and Lawrence rounded out the team with one selection each.

St. Norbert sophomore forward Jessica Schadrie (right) is the 2007 MWC Offensive Player of the Year, while Carroll senior defender Kari Scheelk (left) is the Defensive Player of the Year. Carroll head coach Jason Bretzmann was named MWC Coach of the Year for the second time in his career.

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St. Norbert junior forward Jenni Jacobsen (right) has been named to the second team of the 2007 College Division Academic All-America women’s soccer team as sponsored by CoSIDA and the ESPN The Magazine.

Jacobsen earned her first Academic All-America honor after being named first-team Academic All-District V earlier this month. She is the second St. Norbert women’s soccer player to have been named an Academic All-American, joining Jenny Adkins in 1995.

Jacobsen holds a perfect 4.0 grade point average with a mathematics major. Jacobsen played her first year of collegiate soccer this season after playing volleyball for the Green Knights for two years. In 18 games this season, Jacobsen scored 12 goals and seven assists for 31 points.

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Carroll dominated the boxscore, but St. Scholastica advanced to the second round of the 2007 NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament, as the Saints defeated the Lady Pioneers on their home field 1-0.

Carroll outshot St. Scholastica 21-1 in the game, but the Saints lone shot on goal found the back of the net, as the visitors scored in the 61st minute. Carroll also had five corner kicks to St. Scholastica’s zero.

Trisha Konkol and Kari Scheelk led the Lady Pioneers with four shots apiece. Carroll ends the season with a 17-3-1 record, setting a new MWC record for overall wins in a season.

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St. Scholastica’s women’s soccer team will make the trip from Duluth, Minn., on Wednesday, November 7 to face Carroll in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer Tournament. The match start time is 6 p.m., with the winner moving on to face Wheaton (IL) on the Thunder’s home field on Saturday, November 10. Wheaton, the nation’s No. 1 team and defending National Champion, is 22-0-0 this season and received a first round bye.

Carroll won its first Midwest Conference Women’s Soccer Championship since 2002 this season by posting a 9-0-0 record in league matches. The Lady Pioneers then went on to capture the league’s automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament by winning the conference tournament.

St. Scholastica used a different path in qualifying for the NCAA Tournament, as the Saints were one of four Pool B selections. Independent schools and teams who compete in conferences that you do not have automatic qualifier status for the NCAA tourney are eligible for Pool B bids. The Saints finished the regular-season 18-2-2, including a 14-0-0 mark in the UMAC, before winning the conference’s postseason tournament. St. Scholastica did not face any MWC teams this season, nor did Carroll play any UMAC schools. Carroll tallied 1-1 record against NCAA Tournament qualifiers, with a win over Carthage (1-0, 2 OT) and a loss to UW-Stevens Point (1-0).

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Head coach Jason Bretzmann (right) and the Carroll Lady Pioneers saw their 2005 and 2006 seasons end with losses in the conference tourney finals, but the third time proved to be a charm as Carroll downed Lake Forest 3-0 in Sunday’s 2007 Midwest Conference Women’s Soccer Tournament final at Carroll.

The Lady Pioneers victory gives Carroll its third league tournament championship and first since 2002 (1998). Carroll receives the conference’s automatic berth to the 2007 NCAA Tournament and will find out its first round postseason opponent Monday morning.

In the 33 rd minute of the game, Carroll’s Kendell Uttech beat a Forester defender down the right sided of the field and after drawing the keeper from the box, rolled a shot across the field and into the left side of the goal for the game-winner. Uttech assisted on Trisha Konkol’s insurance goal in the 64 th minute, before adding her second goal of the game less a minute and a half later.

The Carroll women’s soccer team will get a chance to end a two-game conference tourney finals skid on Sunday, as the Lady Pioneers joined Lake Forest in advancing to the 2007 Midwest Conference Women’s Soccer Tournament title match. The teams will meet at noon on Sunday in a match that be will webcast with live video on MWCTV and give the winner an automatic berth to the 2007 NCAA Tournament.

Top-seeded Carroll defeated three-time defending MWC tourney champ Grinnell in the semifinals, outlasting their opponent 2-1. Carroll jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the match, as Cody Callender setup Hillary Reichardt’s goal in the 11th minute, before Callender scored unassisted in the 41st minute. Sydney Stoker got Grinnell on scoreboard in the 60th minute, but Grinnell was unable to get another shot past Sarah McLaughlin in the second half.

Lake Forest rallied to win in overtime to secure its first tourney final appearance since 2003, as St. Norbert jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Jenni Jacobsen’s goal in the 20th minute. Katie Rice tied the game for the Foresters in the 67th minute to force overtime, setting the stage for Laura Wilson’s game-winner 2:32 into overtime.

If an undefeated 9-0-0 conference season that saw Midwest Conference champion Carroll outscore its league foes 54-4 was not enough, history also says the Lady Pioneers are the favorites entering the 2007 Midwest Conference Women’s Soccer Tournament. The MWC champion has captured the conference tourney crown 13 times in the 16 season’s that the tournament has been contested.

Second-seeded St. Norbert, No. 3 Lake Forest and No. 4 Grinnell descend upon the top-seeded Pioneers home field for tourney action on Saturday and Sunday, November 3-4. The winner of the conference tournament receives the conference’s automatic berth to the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The Green Knights and Foresters meet in the first semifinal contest at 11 a.m. on Saturday, with Grinnell and Carroll to follow at 2 p.m. Sunday’s tournament title match will begin at noon. All three tournament matches will be webcast live with video and audio on MWCTV (www.midwestconference.tv).

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The 2007 MWC Women’s Soccer Tournament will be carried live on MWCTV from Waukesha, Wis., on Saturday and Sunday, November 3-4. The first semifinal pits St. Norbert against Lake Forest at 11 a.m. on Saturday, with Grinnell at host Carroll following at 2 p.m. Sunday’s tourney title match will begin at noon.

A pair of St. Norbert student-athletes were selected to the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District women's soccer team. Representing the Midwest Conference on the District V team were junior Jenni Jacobsen, a first-team pick, and sophomore second teamer Rachelle Barina.

Jacobsen is a Mathematics major who owns a 4.0 grade point and ranked fourth in the MWC in points (29) entering the conference tournament after recording 11 goals and seven assists. She will now move on to the Academic All-American ballot.

Barina, who has scored eight goals and added two assists in 12 games this season, is a Religious Studies major who also posted a 4.0 grade point average.

The Carroll women’s soccer team claimed the third Midwest Conference Women’s Soccer Championship in program history with a 12-0 home win over Illinois College on October 27. The championship is the second for the Lady Pioneers under head coach Jason Bretzmann (right). In addition, the team’s other titles came in 1997 and 2002.

Carroll improved to 8-0 in MWC play this season with the win over Illinois College and with a win over Monmouth on Sunday, can become the fourth team since the current system was put into place in 1999, to finish a regular-season 9-0-0 in league play. Carroll’s 2002 team also accomplished the feat.

Carroll will serve as the host for the 2007 MWC Tournament on Friday & Saturday, November 4-5. The tournament winner will earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Carroll senior defender Kari Scheelk (right) became the second Lady Pioneer this season to be named to the D3Kicks.com National Team of the Week. Scheelk, who was the MWC Defensive Performer of the Week one day prior to her D3Kicks section, has anchored a defensive unit with a 1.00 goals against average. She has also scored two goals for a team off to a 6-2 start, including a 3-0 mark in MWC play.

D3Kicks.com Team of the Week

A pair of MWC women’s soccer players were recognized on the first D3Kicks.com National Team of the Week of the 2007 season.

Monmouth freshman defender Brittney Parker had a strong performance in her first collegiate match, helping the Fighting Scots’ defense limit Eureka to one shot in a shutout victory, while also providing the assist on the game’s lone goal.

Carroll senior forward Hillary Reichardt was also honored after opening the 2007 season with a seven-point performance, that included a hat trick. Reichhardt assisted the game’s first goal and added went on to tally three netters of her own in a 6-2 win over North Park.

D3Kicks.com Team of the Week

Carroll and Grinnell may share the nickname of Pioneers, but the top of the standings in Midwest Conference Women’s Soccer is no longer unfamiliar territory for either school. Two-time defending MWC champion Grinnell has handed Carroll its lone conference losses in each of the last two seasons, before eventually knocking off their fellow Pioneers in the MWC Tournament final. Grinnell opens the 2007 season by holding off Carroll once again, this time for the top spot in the 2007 MWC Preseason Coaches Poll.

Grinnell and Carroll accounted for all ten first-place votes for the second straight year, as Heather Benning’s (right) Grinnell squad received seven first-place votes and Carroll three, one more for Carroll than a year ago. St. Norbert edged Lake Forest by five votes to finish third, while Monmouth followed the Foresters to fill-out the top five. Beloit was slated for a sixth-place finish, with Lawrence and Ripon picked to place seventh and eighth, respectively. Illinois College and Knox rounded out the poll’s final two spots in order.

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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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