Quartet Earns All-BIG EAST Honors
11/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 6, 2008
Notre Dame, Ind. - A quartet of Marquette women's soccer players were honored Thursday night by the BIG EAST Conference at its annual awards banquet preceding the semifinal games of the BIG EAST Championship in Notre Dame, Ind. Senior Katie Kelly was named Second Team All-BIG EAST, while senior Shannon Cusick, and sophomores Ashley Bares and Julia Victor were named to the third team.
"Congrats to Katie, Shannon, Julia and Ashley for being named BIG EAST All-Conference," said head coach Markus Roders. "Our team has relied on them and their high-level play throughout the year. We are fortunate to have strength in numbers and great balance on our team. Those four will admit that we are a good team because of the hard work, determination and talent of all the ladies that go out every day and want to get better. These individual awards are a great honor for our team and those involved."
Bares leads the team offensively with 12 points on five goals - all of which were game winners - and two assists. Her five game-winning strikes are tops in the league. She has as had the hot foot in MU's last two wins notching a pair of unassisted game-winning goals to help Marquette defeat Pittsburgh, 2-0, in the regular season finale and the lone goal against Rutgers in the BIG EAST Quarterfinals. This is Bares' first BIG EAST honor of her career.
Victor, one of three players who have started in all 20 games, is tied for second on the team in the points column with eight on three goals and two assists. In BIG EAST action, she was credited with the game-winning assist in a 1-0 shutout of Connecticut, and scored her first game-winning goal of her career in a 4-2 win at DePaul. This is Victor's conference recognition of her career.
Kelly and Cusick have been key components of Marquette's stifling backline that has registered nine shutouts, five against BIG EAST foes, and allowed more than one goal in a game just three times this season. Cusick was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll three times (Sept. 1, Sept. 8, Sept. 22) as well as national acclaim by being named to the Soccer America Team of the Week and to Soccer Buzz's Elite Team of the Week on Sept. 1.
This is Kelly's third all-conference honor as she was named to the all-rookie team in 2005 and was an All-BIG EAST Third Team honoree in 2007, first for Cusick.
The No. 25 Golden Eagles will play No. 1 Notre Dame in the BIG EAST Tournament Semifinals Friday at Alumni Field at 4 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast live on CBS College Sports with Ann Schatz and Tammy Blackburn calling all of the action from the pitch.
