ILLINOIS INDIANA IOWA MICHIGAN MICHIGAN STATE MINNESOTA NORTHWESTERN OHIO STATE PENN STATE PURDUE WISCONSIN

1500 WEST HIGGINS ROAD PARK RIDGE, IL 60068-6300 8 4 7 – 6 9 6 – 1 0 1 0 FACSIMILIE 847-696-1150

For Immediate Release Contact: Natalie Johnson, Big Ten Conference November 2, 2005

BIG TEN ANNOUNCES 2005 WOMEN’S SOCCER ALL-BIG TEN TEAMS AND INDIVIDUAL AWARDS Nittany Lions capture three individual awards

PARK RIDGE, Ill.– The Big Ten office announced the 2005 All-Big Ten and All-Freshman women’s soccer teams, as well as individual award winners today. Penn State, the 2005 conference champion, claimed three of the four individual honors as Tiffany Weimer was selected as the Offensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive year. Lindsay Bach was named a Co-Defensive Player of the Year which she shares with Illinois’ Christen Karniski. Nittany Lion head coach Paula Wilkins was honored as Coach of the Year for the fourth time in her career. Purdue’s Jessica Okoroafo also claimed an individual laurel as she was tabbed Freshman of the Year.

A preseason Missouri Athletic Club’s Hermann Trophy candidate, Weimer dominated the weekly honors, as she earned Offensive Player of the Week four times this year. The senior broke the Big Ten record for career goals with 84 and tied the NCAA record with a 17 consecutive-game scoring streak this season. She has tallied 25 goals and nine game-winners thus far, while leading the league in five different categories.

Karniski is part of an Illinois defense that has recorded seven shutouts with just a 1.11 goals allowed average. Bach has helped the Nittany Lions shut out a league-leading 10 opponents with only 13 goals allowed this year.

Okoroafo is the first Boilermaker to claim Freshman of the Year honors. A two-time recipient of Offensive Player of the Week this season, Okoroafo has made an immediate impact on the field for Purdue as she has posted 10 goals, six game-winners and a goals per game average of 0.56 on the year.

Wilkins becomes the first women’s coach to earn three straight Coach of the Year accolades. Wilkins guided the Nittany Lions to a perfect 19-0 overall record, their best regular season finish ever and a perfect 10-0 mark in conference play for the second consecutive year. Penn State is currently ranked No. 1 in the latest NSCAA/adidas National Rankings and enters this year’s Big Ten Tournament as the top seed.

The conference office also announced honorees from each team for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. Honorees for women’s soccer are Illinois’ Karniski, Indiana’s Kristen Zmijewski, Iowa’s Whitney Strain, Michigan’s Katelin Spencer, Michigan State’s Nina Mastracci, Minnesota’s Kelsey Hood, Northwestern’s Julie Lipinski, Ohio State’s Melissa Miller, Penn State’s Bach, Purdue’s Rebecca Robison and Wisconsin’s Jessica Ring. These eleven student-athletes are now candidates for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the conference office will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each institution at the end of the school year.

-second page- The complete 2005 All-Big Ten Teams follow: 2005 Women’s Soccer All-Big Ten Teams

Position First Team Second Team

Forward Melissa Dobbyn, MICH Lisa Collison, OSU Emma Harris, MSU Jessica Okoroafo, PUR TIFFANY WEIMER, PSU Amy Vermeulen, WIS Lauren Sesselmann, PUR

Midfield Kristen Zmijewski, IND Tabitha Lowey, NU , PSU Lara Dickenmann, OSU Kara Kabellis, WIS Allie Long, PSU

Defense Christen Karniski, ILL Skylar Andrews, MICH Lindsay Bach, PSU Nicki Burnie, MINN Marisa Brown, WIS Melissa Miller, OSU Natalie Jacobs, PSU

Goalkeeper *Erin McLeod, PSU *Molly Schneider, MINN

2005 Women’s Soccer All-Freshman Team

Position

Forward Molly Kruger, IND Lisa Collison, OSU Jessica Okoroafo, PUR

Midfield *Marti Desjarlais, ILL *Danelle Underwood, MICH Kelsey Hood, MINN *Sheree Gray, PSU Allie Long, PSU

Defense , ILL Skylar Andrews, MICH Clare Grimwood, MINN Laura Janowitsch, NU

Goalkeeper COURTNEY CRIPPS, OSU

Sportsmanship Award Honorees Christen Karniski, ILL Kristen Zmijewski, IND Whitney Strain, IOWA Katelin Spencer, MICH Nina Mastracci, MSU Becky Dellaria, MINN Julie Lipinski, NU Melissa Miller, OSU Lindsay Bach, PSU Rebecca Robison, PUR Jessica Ring, WIS

Offensive Player of the Year: TIFFANY WEIMER, PSU Co-Defensive Player of the Year: Christen Karniski, ILL, Lindsay Bach, PSU Freshman of the Year: Jessica Okoroafo, PUR Coach of the Year: Paula Wilkins, PSU

UNANIMOUS SELECTIONS IN ALL CAPS * Tie

###