Covenant News

Optimistic Outlook for North Park Women Soccer Team

CHICAGO, IL (August 29, 2002) - The North Park University (NPU) women's soccer team returns 12 players, including junior All-Conference defender Marit Johnson, from last year's roster, giving second-year coach Erin Leinweber cause for optimism this fall.

Last year, the team finished 5-11-1, 1-6 in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, but the Vikings lost six times by one goal, three in conference action. The team finished strongly, going 3-1-1 in its final five contests.

Early on, Leinweber will count on Johnson, senior Randi Novak, a three-year starter in goal, and midfielders Linnea Johnson, Rachel Jendras, Heidi Hjelm and Ashley Balsam. The Johnson's combined for eight goals last fall, along with 23 points. Hjelm, a senior, is from Anchorage, Alaska. Balsam, a fifth-year senior from Evanston, suffered an ankle injury and sat out most of last year.

Other returning players include forwards Angela Zirk of Kasson, Minnesota, and Tamaira Fraley of Mount Sterling, Kentucky, midfielders Angie Alvarado of Dearborn, Michigan, and Sarah Burnett of Waxhaw, North Carolina, and midfield/forward Beth Johnson of Chaska, Minnesota. Midfielder/forward Katie Rose of Wasilla, Alaska, played as a freshman but was studying in Sweden last fall.

Two first-year players on the roster who have been students at NPU include Jenny Delcamp of Troy, Ohio, and Anja Peterson of Wilmette. A third newcomer is Josefin Skogeton, an exchange student who played club soccer while a student in Sweden.

If the team's veterans falter, look for Leinweber to give nine incoming freshmen an opportunity to shine. The young athletes bolster a roster of 24 players that make NPU arguably its deepest squad ever. Minnehaha Academy students Krista Livingston and Lindsay Lundgren are among those players, having come from one of the most renowned prep soccer programs in Minnesota. Livingston was an honorable mention All-State defender for Minnehaha, which is sponsored by the Northwest Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church. Lundgren is a midfielder.

Goalie Erin Neises of Junction City, Wisconsin, was an All-Conference goalie and will vie for playing time with Novak. Other freshmen competing for playing time include midfielders Carli Thomforde of Apple Valley, Minnesota, and Erin Robertson of Seattle; forwards Abbie Frank of Shoreview, Minnesota, and Erika Bennett of McHenry; and defender Mallory Nelson of St. Paul, Minnesota, and Melanie Morgan of Bourbannais.

NPU opens at Milwaukee School of Engineering at noon Saturday and plays a 1 p.m. contest Sunday at Alverno, also in Milwaukee. The Vikings open conference play with a 12:30 p.m. match at Millikin University on September 21.

For more about NPU women's soccer, call Leinweber at 773-244-6251 or email her at eleinweber@northpark.edu.

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