Quartet of Wheaton women's soccer players earns regional honors

December 8, 2006

NORTON, MA- A quartet of Wheaton College women's soccer players earned regional accolades from three organizations, as juniors Erin Davis (Easton, CT/Joel Barlow), Lauren Konopka (Medford, NJ/Holy Cross) and Jenna Stiegler (Madison, WI/Middleton) and sophomore Angelamaria Viscomi (Newton, MA/Newton North) were honored for their performances this past fall.

Davis, Konopka and Viscomi were each named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas NCAA Division III All-New England first team, while the trio joined Stiegler on the New England Women's Intercollegiate Soccer Association (NEWISA) Division III All-New England first team. Davis and Viscomi were also selected for the D3Kicks.com All-New England first team, while Konopka drew a second-team nod.

Thirty-seven athletes were named to the NSCAA's three teams, and this marked the eighth straight year the Lyons had at least two players honored by the organization, and the sixth time in seven seasons Wheaton had a pair of first teamers. Forty players landed on the NEWISA's three teams, and the Blue and White placed four on the first team for the first time since 2003. In its first year of operation, D3Kicks.com named 33 athletes to three teams.

Prior to this season, Davis had yet to win an athletic award but qualified for the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District I third team for the second consecutive season. Davis anchored a defense which posted a 0.62 goals against average and 15 shutouts, and she proved to be a key offensive weapon during critical situations. In the Lyons' semifinal draw during the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament, Davis assisted on the game-tying marker before notching the clinching goal during penalty kicks that helped Wheaton advance to the championship game. Davis scored the game-winner in the title tilt before assisting on the Blue and White's game-winner in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in the following game.

Konopka earned her third NEWISA All-New England nod, landing on the first team for the second straight year, and grabbed her second NSCAA All-New England honor, placing on the first team for the first time. She finished the season with team highs of 33 points and 11 assists, and was second with 11 tallies. Konopka became just the sixth player in program history to reach 100 career points and enters her senior year fifth at Wheaton in points (108), sixth in goals (40) and seventh in assists (28). Konopka netted a point in 16 of 24 games.

Stiegler drew her first regional honor after playing a major role in the backfield this past season, joining Davis as the only Lyons to start all 24 games, as Wheaton yielded only 15 goals in 2,180 minutes of action. She tacked on nine points, netting four goals, including three game-winners. Her 38th-minute tally against Husson College in the first round of the NCAA Tournament stood up as the winning marker.

After focusing on distributing the ball more her freshman year, tallying three goals and 12 assists, Viscomi became a key piece of Wheaton's offense as a goal scorer this season. She netted a team-high 12 goals, finished second with 31 points and contributed seven helpers. The striker, who played midfield in 2005, also led the Lyons with five game-winners and tallied 11 points in the final seven games of the season. The regional honors are her first.

Each of Wheaton's four regional honorees was a NEWMAC All-Conference selection this past fall. Wheaton finished the season ranked 19th in the final national poll with a 21-2-1 record, including a 9-0 mark in the NEWMAC. The Lyons made an NCAA Tournament appearance for the seventh straight season, corralled their sixth NEWMAC Tournament title and took home their eighth consecutive regular season conference crown. With a 76-game undefeated streak against NEWMAC foes, the Lyons enter next fall with the second-longest unbeaten conference run in NCAA soccer history, regardless of division or gender.

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