Dec. 8, 2011
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Penn State women's soccer gathered five NSCAA All-Great Lakes selections on Thursday as voted by the coaches in the region. Junior Christine Nairn (Arnold, Md.) and sophomore Maya Hayes (West Orange, N.J.) picked up All-Great Lakes First Team laurels, while sophomore Taylor Schram (Canonsburg, Pa.) was named All-Great Lakes Second Team. Junior Lexi Marton (Aurora, Ontario) and graduate student Erin McNulty (Winnipeg, Manitoba) garnered third-team honors.
Nairn became a third-time honoree on the All-Great Lakes First Team in as many years, while Hayes lands on the All-Region team for the first time in her career. Nairn, who is currently at U.S. National Team camp in California in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Qualifying campaign, scored three times with a career-high 13 helpers for 19 points. Many of her assists were to Hayes, who scored 31 times with eight assists for a Penn State- and Big Ten-record 70 points. Both were named to the All-Big Ten First Team.
Schram was instrumental to the offensive onslaught Penn State issued all season long, issuing 12 assists with 12 goals for 36 points to make the All-Great Lakes squad for the first time. If Nairn wasn't dishing the ball to Hayes, it was Schram that combined to make a fearsome twosome up top for the Nittany Lions. Schram became just the sixth Penn State player in school history to register a double-double in goals and assists, all despite missing the final two games of the season in the NCAA Tournament due to a concussion.
Marton, an All-Big Ten First Team selection, earned her first honor on the All-Great Lakes team. A stalwart on defense, Marton started each of the last 13 games in central defense after playing all 90 minutes for the full Canadian National Team against the United States in September. Marton tallied two assists from the back, while helping the effort to pitch a conference-leading 14 shutouts.
In net for all 14 shutouts was McNulty, who earned four full clean sheets in 26 starts. McNulty won the second-most games in PSU history (21) for a single season, while boasting a 0.97 goals-against average. The graduate student played nearly 2,137 minutes between the pipes with a .747 save percentage and earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors in her inaugural campaign for the Blue and White. McNulty also set a new Penn State goalkeeper record for assists in a season with three.
Each of Penn State's All-Region selections are expected to return next season for PSU's run at a 15th-straight Big Ten title. The Nittany Lions will have eight returning starters from their NCAA Sweet Sixteen squad including its top four scorers in Hayes, Schram, Nairn and redshirt-freshman Emily Hurd (Sammamish, Wash.). In all, 86 percent of its goals and 80 percent of its points will be back for Penn State.
--NITTANY LIONS--