Covenant News

High Hopes for NPU Women's Soccer in 2003

CHICAGO, IL (August 25, 2003) - The 2002 North Park University (NPU) women's soccer team doubled its win total from the previous year and coach Erin Leinweber has a good chance to improve again, thanks to a roster that includes mostly freshmen and sophomores.

Leinweber's squad tied a school record for wins with a 10-9 overall record last year. She hopes her team will better their 1-6 mark in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) play.

Sophomore Mallory Nelson of South St. Paul, Minnesota, returns after earning second team, All-CCIW honors as a defender as does goalkeeper Erin Neises of Junction City, Wisconsin, who shared a starting position for much of 2002. Both should help NPU defend adequately. Junior defender Jenny Delcamp of Troy, Ohio, runs with the Vikings' track and field program and brings athleticism to the back line.

Most of North Park's top scorers are also back. Junior Tamaira Fraley of Mount Sterling, Kentucky, returns after leading NPU in assists last fall. The team's two seniors, Kathryn Rose of Wasilla, Alaska, and Sarah Burnett of Waxhaw, North Carolina, had success offensively a year ago. Rose scored a team high of seven goals and Burnett scored twice. Sophomore Melanie Morgan of Bourbonnais, Illinois, will help NPU as a midfielder.

Rose of Mat-Su Covenant Church is one of seven NPU players with connections to Covenant churches. Others include Minnesotans Abbie Frank and Lindsay Lundgren of Salem Covenant Church in New Brighton; Angela Zirk of Rochester Covenant Church in Rochester; Carly Thomforde of Faith Covenant Church in Burnsville and Rachel Anderson of Excelsior Covenant Church in Excelsior. Frank and Thomforde scored five goals in 2002 and Lundgren added four. Midfielder Erin Robertson is from Pine Lake Covenant Church, Sammamish, Washington.

Freshmen Andreanna Triliegi and Kate Gundersen (along with Lundgren) are graduates of Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis, a school sponsored by the Covenant's Northwest Conference. Triliegi was a Class A All-State player for the Minnehaha Redhawks during her senior year of high school. Another Minnesotan, Laura Getsch of Edina, and Illinois residents Sarah Primozic, Devon Newbury, Jen Sayler and Sarah Stiles (from Woodridge, Des Plaines, Greenville, and Moline respectively) round out the freshmen class.

The team opens the soccer season with six road games. Their first game is scheduled for Saturday in Fayetteville, North Carolina, against Virginia Wesleyan University. NPU's initial home game, against Maranatha Baptist Bible College, is set for September 19. The team's CCIW opener is a September 27 home contest versus Illinois Wesleyan University.

More about NPU's women's soccer program can be accessed via www.northpark.edu under the Current Students/Athletics link.

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