<p>For Immediate Release
Monday, Dec. 18, 2006
Women’s Soccer Contact: Stacie Michaud (410) 293-8773</p>
<p>Five Mids Garner Soccer Buzz Mid-Atlantic Region Honors, Gabarra Named Coach of the Year</p>
<p>ANNAPOLIS, Md. - A week after garnering All-Mid-Atlantic Region honors by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA), Meggie Curran (Silver Spring, Md.), Shelly Moeller (Milford, Ohio), Lizzie Barnes (New Orleans, La.) and Cassie Barbaresi (Bradenton, Fla.) have also earned postseason recognition from Soccer Buzz. Additionally, 14th-year Navy head coach Carin Gabarra was named the Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year.</p>
<p>Gabarra, who was also tabbed the Patriot League Coach of the Year, led the Midshipmen to a program-record 21 wins and the school’s second NCAA Tournament appearance in the last four years. Among Navy’s 21 wins this fall was a 1-0 victory over ninth-ranked Penn State, the program’s first win over a top-10 ranked team. Under her leadership, Navy has won at least a share of six Patriot League regular-season titles and two Patriot League Tournament crowns. </p>
<p>A three-time All-Patriot League selection and the 2006 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, Curran was named to the Soccer Buzz All-Mid-Atlantic Region First Team. Earning second-team honors were Moeller and Barnes, who were named the Patriot League Co-Defensive Player of the Year and the Goalkeeper of the Year, respectively. The Patriot League’s co-rookie of the year, Navy’s Barbaresi, was named to the third team.</p>
<p>Curran, who was named to the NSCAA All-Mid-Atlantic Region First Team, paced the league in her senior campaign in points (39), goals (12) and assists (15). She led the Mids in all three categories in each of the last three years. She finished the season ranked sixth in the country is assists per game, averaging 0.63 assists per contest, while her 1.63 points per game was the 25th-best average in the nation. Curran closed out her career as the Mids’ second all-time leading scorer with 118 points on 38 goals and a program-record 42 assists. The three-year starter not only is the first Navy player to reach 40-plus assists in her career, she is only the third player in Patriot League history to achieve the feat. In addition, she also holds the top two single-season assists marks at the Academy with 15 and 14 in 2006 and '05, respectively.</p>
<p>Moeller emerged as a leader on Navy’s record-setting defense in just her first season playing center back and went on to be named to the NSCAA’s All-Mid-Atlantic Region First Team. Navy’s defensive unit gave up nine goals this fall, including just five during the regular season. The Mids’ 0.372 goals-against average was the nation’s best and the 14th-lowest GAA in the NCAA record books. In addition, Navy turned in a program-record 19 shutouts in 24 games, the seventh most in the NCAA annals. Meanwhile, the Mids’ .790 shutouts per game average was No. 1 in the nation and the fifth-best mark in NCAA history. As a group, Navy played more than 980-straight minutes without surrendering a goal over the course of 12 contests.</p>
<p>Named the Patriot League Tournament Most Valuable Player, Moeller was one of Navy’s most explosive players in the air and in particular, on corner kicks. She turned in three assists to accompany her eight goals this fall with seven of the eight goals coming off corners, including four headers. She scored game-winning goals against both Lehigh and Colgate in the Patriot League Tournament. Moeller was named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week three times during the season, including Oct. 30 when she made a pair of defensive saves against No. 9 Penn State to lead the Mids to their first victory over a ranked opponent.</p>
<p>Barnes, who is the only Midshipmen goalkeeper to garner NSCAA all-region recognition in program history, enjoyed a sensational sophomore campaign where she led the nation in goal-against average (0.292) and save percentage (0.933). A First-Team All-Patriot League selection, Barnes earned 13 solo shutouts in 2006, a Navy record, as well as a conference record. She surrendered just six goals during the season, including three during the regular season, while stopping 84 of the 90 shots she faced on goal. A three-time Patriot League Goalkeeper-of-the-Week selection, Barnes stood in goal for 859:23 without giving up a goal between Sept. 17-Oct. 29, a mark that will go down in the NCAA record books as the seventh-longest scoreless streak. Her 93.3 save percentage stands No. 1 in the Navy record books, as does her 0.29 goals-against average (11th in NCAA history). Barnes was instrumental in Navy advancing to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. She knocked down a pair of!
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illiam & Mary penalty kicks to lead the Mids to their first appearance in the second round of the postseason tourney.</p>
<p>In addition to her performance on the field, Barnes also excelled in the classroom where she was recently named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America First Team. An information technology major who carries a 3.68 grade-point average, Barnes was one-of-four keepers to garner Academic All-America honors (36 student-athletes on three teams), but the only net-minder named to the Academic All-America First Team.</p>
<p>Barbaresi was a First-Team All-Patriot League midfielder who amassed 25 points on six goals and 13 assists in her first season donning a Navy uniform. A product of IMG Soccer Academies in Florida, Barbaresi provided the Mids with a tremendous spark coming off the bench. Three of her six goals were game-winners, including her goal to lead the Mids past the SEC’s LSU. She paced the league’s freshmen in points (1.14 ppg), assists (0.59 apg) and goals (0.27 gpg). Ranked eighth in the country in assists per game, Barbaresi turned in four multi-assist games, including two three-assist days. Barbaresi earned weekly honors from the Patriot League three times in the first four weeks, twice being named the rookie of the week and once as the offensive player of the week.</p>
<p>In addition to being named to one of the three All-Mid-Atlantic Region teams, Barbaresi, Moeller and Lauren Bresnahan (Weston, Fla.) were named to the Soccer Buzz All-Freshman Mid-Atlantic Region squad. A First-Team All-Patriot League defender, Bresnahan was a starter in all 24 contests and paired up with Moeller in the center back. She finished her rookie campaign with seven points on a goal and five assists and was named to the Patriot League All-Tournament Team. She was named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 4 and two days later became the first Navy player to be named to the Soccer America Team of the Week since 2000.</p>