Slog: Michigan: Soccer

Dobbyn on All-Big Ten First Team; Freshmen Honored

Three University of Michigan women's soccer players have been selected to All-Big Ten Conference teams, the league announced tonight (Wednesday, Nov. 2) at the annual postseason tournament banquet held at the Sheraton Inn.

Sophomore forward Melissa Dobbyn earned first team All-Big Ten honors, freshman defender Skylar Andrews was named to the All-Big Ten second team and all-freshman team, and freshman defender Danelle Underwood was also picked for all-freshman team honors.

In addition, junior Katelin Spencer was chosen as Michigan's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award honoree.

Dobbyn leads the Wolverines in points this season with 28 (10 g, 8 a). Her 16 points in Big Ten play ranked third in the conference. She constantly created scoring opportuities for a Wolverine squad that held the fourth highest goals-per-game average in the conference (1.70). She earned Soccer Buzz Elite Team and Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honors after tallying a career-best five points against Ohio State (Sept. 23) and following that up with a two-goal effort at Oakland (Sept. 25) two days later. Her 28 points, 10 goals and eight assists are all career-best season totals. She fired a conference-high 47 shots in Big Ten play and has a team-leading 80 shots this season.

Andrews was one of only two freshmen and one of only two defenders to start all 18 games for the Wolverines this season. Andrews' improvement showed throughout the season and earned her the assignment of guarding the conference-leading scorer Tiffany Weimer from Penn State on Oct. 21. She also recorded two shots this season.

Underwood also started all 18 games as a freshman this season, tallying 12 points (5 g, 2 a) in those 18 games. She led all Wolverine freshmen in scoring. The former Gatorade Player of the Year for Michigan looked comfortable from the start, scoring her first career goal, the game-winner, against Texas (Sept. 2) in Michigan's home opener. She recorded a career-best three points with a goal and an assist against Penn State (Oct. 21).

Spencer, a tri-captain this season, provided leadership for a young Wolverine team. She started all 18 games, playing both defender and midfield. She tied a career-best season total in assists with three, which ranks third on the team.

The host Wolverines will take on Penn State, the top-ranked team in the nation, tomorrow night (Thursday, Nov. 3) in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament at the U-M Soccer Field. The game has a start time of 7:30 p.m.

Posted by Mark Slattery at 10:42 AM on November 03, 2005
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Sterba Selected Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week

Senior Ryan Sterba of the University of Michigan men's soccer team was named Big Ten Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Monday (Oct. 24). Sterba receives the first conference honor of his career after tallying five points (two goals, one assist) to lead the Wolverines to back-to-back victories against Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Wisconsin.

Sterba is the first Wolverine to receive the weekly honor in the 2005 season. The senior recorded an assist in Michigan's 2-1 double-overtime win against No. 25 Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Thursday (Oct. 20) before scoring two goals, including the game-winner, in a 4-2 victory over Wisconsin on Sunday (Oct. 23). The goals for Sterba were scored at the 51:34 and 64:54 marks.

Sterba is second on Michigan's all-time list with 77 career games played, five games behind Mychal Turpin (2001-04). Sterba is also fifth in career assists (14) for U-M, two assists behind Knox Cameron (2001-04). Currently Sterba is second on the team with 25 shots, third in shots on goal (10) and assists (3), fourth in points (7), and tied for fourth in goals (2).

Posted by Mark Slattery at 08:03 PM on October 25, 2005
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Freshman playing well

Danelle Underwood has 4 goals and Madison Gates has played steadily in goal for the Wolverines this year.

Posted by Mark Slattery at 12:18 AM on October 15, 2005
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Tuura Reaches Milestone, Nears Another

Megan Tuura made her 200th career save against Northwestern (Oct. 7). Her 208 saves are 10 shy of Jessica Jones (1995-98) for third place all-time. Her nine saves were the second highest save total of the season for Tuura. She had career-high 12 saves at Kansas in the season opener. She also needs just two more wins to tie Jones' 26 career wins for third place all-time at Michigan.