Jan. 29, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State women's soccer team honored the 2010 season at its annual banquet held at the Nittany Lion Inn on Saturday afternoon.
The focus of the event was to celebrate the Nittany Lions' record breaking 13th straight Big Ten title as well as its three departing student-athletes. Seniors Megan Monroig (Northumberland, Pa.) and Danielle Toney (Northville, Mich.) will graduate this spring along with junior Jackie Hakes (Spokane, Wash.), who is graduating a year early to attend dental school.
Additionally, head coach Erica Walsh doled out the year-end awards as voted on by the team's members. Sophomore midfielder Christine Nairn (Arnold, Md.) was named the Most Valuable Player, while junior Carly Niness (Berwyn, Pa.) was tabbed the squad's Defensive Player of the Year.
On the attacking side of things, Toney received the Offensive Player of the Year award, while Monroig garnered the Rodney Swineford Memorial Award for team leadership and embodiment of Penn State women's soccer. The award, which has been given out since 2007, is in honor of Monroig's late father.
The final award, the Most Improved, went to redshirt-freshman Tani Costa (Honolulu, Hawaii). In her first full season with Penn State, Costa led the Penn State attack in goals and points receiving numerous conference, regional and national accolades.
Penn State concluded the year with an 11-9-1 overall record and an 8-2-0 mark in Big Ten play, sharing the title with Ohio State. The 13 consecutive wins set a new record for women's titles in Big Ten history. The Nittany Lions begin its Spring play against the Akron Zips on Feb. 26 in Holuba Hall. The 2011 season opener is tentatively set for Aug. 19 in Palo Alto, Calif.
--NITTANY LIONS--