Ashland's Rebecca Plescia Named GLIAC Women's Soccer "Athlete of the Week"

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BAY CITY, Mich. - Ashland University sophomore goal keeper Rebecca Plescia (Parma, Ohio/Padua) was named GLIAC Women's Soccer "Athlete of the Week" after leading the Eagles to a pair of GLIAC road wins and helping AU secure the No. 3 seed in the GLIAC Tournament last weekend.

GLIAC Women's Soccer Athlete of the Week:
Rebecca Plescia - Ashland
Sophomore/Goal Keeper
Parma, Ohio/Padua

Rebecca Plescia made 17 saves last week to help the Eagles to two road wins in GLIAC play and  pushed them into the third seed in this week’s GLIAC Tournament. Plescia stopped 10 shots in a double-overtime win over Tiffin on Friday. She allowed a goal in the 7th minute and then reeled off 193 scoreless minutes the rest of weekend. Plescia made seven saves against Findlay on Sunday for her fifth shutout of the season.

GLIAC Women’s Soccer Weekly Honor Roll:  Rachel McCollum - FS, Maria Brown - GV, Jennifer Holton - OD, Emily Wheat - SV, Shelly Rogers - TU.

2011 GLIAC Women’s Soccer Athletes of the Week: (9/6) Chelsea Lyons - NM; (9/12) Jessica Baker - NM; (9/19) Ashley Botts - GV; (9/26) Ashley Botts - GV; (10/3) Ashley Botts - GV; (10/10) Rachel McCollum - FS;  (10/17) Kayla Addison - GV;  (10/25) Katie Boardman - MT; (10/31) Rebecca Plescia - AU.

Ashland Eagles

The Eagles advanced to their first-ever GLIAC Tournament with a pair of wins last week at Tiffin and Findlay. Ashland will be the third seed in the tournament and host Ferris State at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. On Friday at Tiffin, the Eagles fell behind in the seventh minute, but Jamie Greene provided the equalizer later in the first half. The tie score remained into the second overtime when Haley Frick delivered a strike that bounced off the keeper, off the post and into the goal for the game-winner. Rebecca Plescia made 10 saves for the Eagles. She made seven stops in a 2-0 shutout of Findlay on Sunday for her fifth clean sheet of the season. The Eagles got goals from Kathleen Demaree and Lexi Gruich in the win. Frick and Demaree lead the Eagles with four goals apiece and 12 different players have goals for the Eagles this season. Plescia.

Ferris State Bulldogs

The Ferris State University women's soccer team was unable to score a goal in a 1-0 loss to GLIAC rival Grand Valley State on Saturday (Oct. 29) afternoon at the FSU Soccer Field in Big Rapids, Mich... The setback came in the regular-season finale to the unbeaten Lakers on Senior Day in Big Rapids.  The Bulldogs finish the regular season at 7-8-3 overall and 7-5-3 in GLIAC match play... FSU officially received its second consecutive GLIAC Tournament berth and will hit the road for a quarterfinal-round match on Tuesday (Nov. 1)... The Bulldogs are seeded sixth among the six qualifying teams and will visit Ashland for a 2 p.m. (ET) contest on Tuesday in Ashland, Ohio.  The other quarterfinal-round match pits fourth-seeded Northern Michigan hosting fifth-seeded Tiffin on Tuesday, also at 2 p.m... Earlier this season (9/23), the Bulldogs recorded a 3-0 victory over the Eagles in Ashland, Ohio... Ferris State has compiled a current 1-3 all-time record (.250) in GLIAC Tournament matches.

Findlay Oilers

The UF women's soccer team was defeated by Ashland University 2-0 in the final game of the season on Sunday, Oct. 30 in Findlay, Ohio... Ashland struck in the 15th minute and 49th minute in the two goal win... Despite the loss, Findlay rattled off 13 shots in the contest... The Oilers end their season with a record of 7-9-1 and a 6-7-1 mark in GLIAC play.

Grand Valley State Lakers

No. 3 Grand Valley State is on a 36-game unbeaten streak dating back to last season. As the GLIAC regular season champion for the seventh consecutive season, the Lakers will host the GLIAC Tournament beginning on Friday. As a team, GVSU is holding opponents to six shots per game and has posted 13 shutouts this season.  Junior Ashley Botts is third in the nation in total goals (15) and is third in points (37), while keeper Chelsea Parise ranks in the top 10 in goals-against average (0.27).


 

Lake Erie Storm

Lake Erie played two matches in the final week of its season, falling to Findlay and Tiffin on the road each by 2-0 counts.  Sophomore Megan Baldacci made 13 saves against Findlay and eight vs. Tiffin.  She finished the season with 142 saves, leading the GLIAC and currently in the top 10 in the country.

 

Michigan Tech Huskies

Michigan Tech dropped a tough 2-1 lost in overtime at Northern Michigan Friday (Oct. 28). The Huskies matched last year’s totals in wins (seven) and conference wins (five). Katie Boardman set school records in season goals (seven), assists (six) and points (20). Tech had 13 different players record at least one point on the season. MaryBeth Spoehr handled the majority of the work in goal, posting two shutouts and a 1.75 goals against average.

 

Northern Michigan Wildcats

NMU finished its regular season with a 2-1 2 OT win over rival Michigan Tech…NMU is now 10-5-3 overall and 8-5-2 in the GLIAC…Missy Mohr scored her first goal of the season against Michigan Tech…Becky Schmidt also scored her first goal of the season and first career game winner…Jessica Baker is now 10-5-3 between the pipes… NMU hosts a GLIAC Quarterfinal game this week.

Northwood Timberwolves

NU saw its 2011 season come to an end with a 4-0 loss to Ohio Dominican Sunday afternoon (Oct. 30). Northwood finishes the year 5-11 overall, 4-11 in the GLIAC.  Ohio Dominican is now 10-6-2 overall, 8-4-2 in the GLIAC ... The game was scoreless until the 36th minute when ODU found the back of the net to take the lead.  The score remained 1-0 through halftime.  Ohio Dominican finished the opening 45 minutes with a 7-4 advantage in shots, while Northwood held a 5-2 edge in corners... The Panthers made the score 2-0 just over a minute into the second half.  ODU then added two more goals to clinch the win... For the match, Ohio Dominican held a 17-10 advantage in shots.  Corner kicks were in favor of Northwood 5-3... The contest was the final match for five NU seniors: Amanda Watson (Oregon, Ohio), Heather Rhodes (Lockport, N.Y.) Tonya Sitney (Brampton, Ont.), Kristen Giovenazzo (Barrie, Ont.) and Alyssa Whims (Brighton, Mich.).


 

Ohio Dominican Panthers

With a pair of wins in Michigan over the weekend, the Panthers, 8-1-1 over their last 10, ran their win streak to a program record-tying eight straight games and earned the 2011 GLIAC South Division title in the process. ODU defeated Saginaw Valley State 2-1 on Friday afternoon and collected the school’s first conference crown at the Division II level with a 4-0 shutout of Northwood on Sunday. Junior Jennifer Holton (Johnstown, OH) and freshman Jordan Mazzi (Galena, OH) each tallied scores in both contests, while the school’s career assist leader, senior Sierra Patterson (Brecksville, OH) recorded a helper in each game to bring her career total to 29 and scored her 35th collegiate goal in the 74th minute against the Timberwolves. The Panther defense continued its impressive run of late, holding Northwood to just 10 shots and five shots on target for its ninth shutout and seventh over the last eight outings. After moving into 24th on the NCAA Division II record books on Friday with 671:44 consecutive scoreless minutes, freshman keeper Laura Clark (Lapeer, MI) tied the ODU single-season record for shutouts with eight, while running her record to 10-5-2. The 10 wins are tied for fourth most by a goalie in a single season in program history. With a first round bye and the overall second seed in the GLIAC Tournament, the Panthers return to the pitch this Friday, Nov. 4 in Allendale, Michigan as they take on the winner of Ashland and Ferris State (Mich.) at 4:30 p.m. in the first semi-final.

Saginaw Valley State Cardinals

The SVSU women’s soccer team fell to Ohio Dominican, 2-1 (Oct. 28) in a GLIAC contest. Saginaw Valley would attempt a comeback scoring their only goal of the contest with less then five minutes to play when Emily Wheat (Flint, Mich. / Kearsley HS) scored on a header off a pass from junior Charley Porter (Midland, Mich.), but it would not enough as the Panthers went on to a 2-1 victory. With the loss the Cardinals end their season with a 6-8-2 record overall, and 5-8-2 record in the GLIAC.

Tiffin Dragons

The Dragons went 1-1 last week, but that was good enough to secure a berth in the GLIAC Tournament... Senior forward Shelly Rogers (Shelby Twp, Mich./Utica Eisenhower) tallied a goal and two assists last week.  She had the game-winning goal against Lake Erie that put the Dragons in the GLIAC Tournament… Rogers now has 15 assists for the season.