Dec. 18, 2009

Center Valley, Pa.--It was a return to glory for Colgate in 2009. The Raiders won their first Patriot League Championship since 2004, their 11th title overall. Since the conclusion of the season, Patriot League student-athletes and teams have been adding numerous honors to their already-hefty stacks of awards.

Patriot League Women's Soccer Release - FINAL

Patriot League Notebook

2009 Patriot League Championship 
Colgate won its League-best 11th Patriot League Championship, defeating Navy and American in the Patriot League Tournament. Jillian Arnault was named the Patriot League Tournament MVP. It was the Raiders' first title since 2004.

This Looks Familiar 
All three games at the 2009 Patriot League Tournament ended in the same score, 1-0. It was just the second time that all three games ended with identical scores. The last time was in 2002, when all three contests concluded with 2-1 scores.

Homefield Highs 
The Patriot League Tournament has been held 19 years, all of which have been hosted by the top seed in the tournament. Entering this season, the top seed had won the tournament only five times. Colgate recorded the sixth such occurrence this season. All six of those times, the championship was won by Raiders. Five of the Raiders' 11 championships have come away from Hamilton, N.Y.

Patriot League Announces Major Awards
Navy's Beth Reed received two honors from the Patriot League. She was named Goalkeeper of the Year and Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Bucknell's Christa Matlack was tabbed Offensive Player of the Year, while American's Frederike Engel took Defensive Player of the Year honors. Engel's coach, David Bucciero, was named Patriot League Coach of the Year. Colgate Goalkeeper Ashley Walsh was voted Patriot league Rookie of the Year, becoming the sixth different Raider to win the award.

Academic All-Americans From The Patriot League 
Three Patriot League student-athletes were named ESPN The Magazine Academic All-Americans. Among the honorees were Navy senior Beth Reed and Army senior Liz Betterbed, both of whom received First-Team recognition. Navy senior Shelly Moeller was named a Third-Team Academic All-American.

Reed Named Academic All-American of the Year 
In addition to being named an Academic All-American, Navy senior goalkeeper Beth Reed was tabbed Academic All-American of the Year by CoSIDA. A mechanical engineering major, Reed owns a 3.97 grade-point average and ranks second in Overall Order of Merit among the 1,064 midshipmen in the Class of 2010. On the field, Reed put together a sensational senior season in 2009, leading the Midshipmen to a 14-win season and the program's fourth-straight Patriot League Tournament appearance. In her first year as the team's starting keeper, Reed allowed a League-low 0.67 goals per contest, while posting a Navy senior class record nine solo shutouts, including a League-best four in Patriot League play.

Patriot League Student-Athletes Earn All-Region Honors 
Three Patriot League student-athletes were named to the 2009 NSCAA Division I Women's Soccer All-Mid-Atlantic Team. Navy senior defender Shelley Moeller was placed on the First Team, while Bucknell junior forward Christa Matlack was named to the Second Team and Holy Cross senior forward Shelby Stand received Third-Team recognition. 

Betterbed Named a Rhodes Scholar
Shortly after completing a prestigious four-year career, Army senior Elizabeth Betterbed was named a winner of the highly-regarded Rhodes Scholarship. Recipients are selected on the criteria of scholastic talent, leadership ability, integrity of character, selflessness and physical prowess. Betterbed will have the opportunity to continue her education at Oxford, England, for two years. Since 1923, West Point has earned this achievement 90 times ranking it fourth nationally.
Bucknell, Lehigh Receive NSCAA Academic Awards
Seven soccer teams from six Patriot League schools achieved team grade-point averages of 3.0 or higher, thereby earning the NSCAA Team Academic Award for the 2008-09 academic year. Bucknell was the lone Patriot League school and one of just 97 teams in all divisions to have both its men's and women's programs honored with the award. Also recognized was the women's soccer team from Lehigh.