College Women: Santa Clara’s Wagner tops SA list of women’s MVPs

Midfielder Aly Wagner, the centerpiece of a spectacular Santa Clara squad that captured the NCAA Division I women’s soccer championship in 2001, has been selected Player of the Year by Soccer America magazine. Wagner, a junior playmaker from San Jose, Calif., scored 17 goals — including a tremendous blast to the upper-left corner that beat North Carolina in the NCAA title game — and dished off 20 assists, prodding the freshman-heavy Broncos to their first national title in women’s soccer. She’s joined among Soccer America‘s 11-player College Women’s MVPs by Santa Clara defender Danielle Slaton, who also was an MVP selection in 1999. Wagner and Slaton were teammates with three-time national champion Central Valley Mercury and at Presentation High School in San Jose. Jerry Smith, who toughened up the Broncos’ beautiful game and guided the Broncos to a 23-2 mark and victories over the Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 seeds, has been chosen Coach of the Year. Slaton is one of two repeat MVPs. Penn State forward Christie Welsh also was selected in 1999 and 2000. North Carolina, ranked No. 1 throughout the season, also placed two players among the MVPs: winger Jena Kluegel and defender Catherine Reddick. The nation’s top two conferences dominate the team. The West Coast Conference, which sent two teams to the NCAA College Cup final four in Dallas, has four MVPs: Wagner, Slaton, St. Mary’s goalkeeper Ruth Montgomery and Portland striker Christine Sinclair. Sinclair is the only freshman MVP. Three Atlantic Coast Conference players are among the 11: Kluegel, Reddick and Virginia midfielder Lori Lindsey. Other MVPs are Brigham Young midfielder Aleisha Cramer, Stanford defender Amy Sauer and Florida forward Abby Wambach of Florida. Wagner, who also won the Honda Award as the nation’s best player and was a finalist for the Hermann and Missouri Athletic Club honors, is the first Santa Clara athlete honored as a Soccer America player of the year. Soccer America has chosen Players of the Year since 1984 and Collegiate MVPs since 1976. Previous women’s Players of the Year include Mia Hamm, April Heinrichs, Michelle Akers, Kristine Lilly, Julie Foudy and Shannon MacMillan. The 2000 winner was Notre Dame’s Anne Makinen. Soccer America will announce its men’s MVPs and Player of the Year on Wednesday; both groups of MVPs are featured in the magazine’s Jan. 21 issue. Soccer America‘s Freshmen of the Year will be announced in two weeks and featured in the Feb. 4 issue. Soccer America‘s College Women’s MVPs: ALEISHA CRAMER (BRIGHAM YOUNG) Sophomore midfielder The best defensive midfielder in the nation — and a burgeoning national team standout — carried much of the attacking load for the rebuilding Cougars in 2001, scoring nine goals with nine assists (both team-highs) to lead BYU to the Mountain West Conference title and the second round of the NCAA tournament. Cramer was the MWC’s player of the year. JENA KLUEGEL (NORTH CAROLINA) Senior midfielder The left-sided winger patrolled the flank as nobody else in college soccer could, getting behind defenses to set up Tar Heel attacks while playing nearly flawless defense. Carolina coach Anson Dorrance says her flank play, akin to that of classical Brazilian wing-backs, will revolutionize the women’s game. Kluegel, receiving regular national team call-ups, contributed eight goals and eight assists as North Carolina reached its 20th national final in 21 years. LORI LINDSEY (VIRGINIA) Senior midfielder The two-time Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year was among the nation’s most penetrating playmakers, expert at finding seams to set up teammates and capable of scoring important goals. She netted 11 as Virginia won 17 games and reached the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time since 1992, providing the pivot around which the young Cavaliers revolved. RUTH MONTGOMERY (ST. MARY’S) Junior goalkeeper The Gaels’ rise to national prominence last fall was largely the work of their underrated netminder, whose spectacular saves were rewarded in shutouts of NCAA qualifiers Portland, Stanford, Cal, Pepperdine, USC and San Diego. Montgomery had a dozen clean sheets and an 0.65 goals-against average, surrendering just three goals (one off a deflection, another on an Aly Wagner free kick) through one 15-game stretch. CATHERINE REDDICK (NORTH CAROLINA) Sophomore defender The star on the Tar Heels’ talented back line emerged during the NCAA College Cup as a freshman, then followed with a spectacular sophomore campaign, anchoring a defense that surrendered only 12 goals — less than half a goal a game — and shut out 15 opponents. Already in U.S. national team coach April Heinrichs’ plans, Reddick is a physical defender and a dead-ball specialist who contributed three goals and seven assists to the Carolina attack. AMY SAUER (STANFORD) Senior defender The Cardinal’s best defender was also its primary playmaker, starting attacks from the back to offset Stanford’s creative deficiencies in midfield. Always solid in defense and dangerous when going forward, Sauer was the pivotal player in Stanford’s march to a second NCAA third-round appearance in three years, anchoring a back line that surrendered fewer than five shots on goal per game. CHRISTINE SINCLAIR (PORTLAND) Freshman forward Nobody in the nation scored more important goals than the Canadian national team standout, who shattered Portland’s freshman scoring records while leading the Pilots to the final four. Sinclair, who had scored nearly two dozen goals for Canada before playing a collegiate match, was third in NCAA Division I with 54 points (23 goals, 8 assists), scoring nine gamewinners — including late strikes against Florida State, Texas A&M, BYU and Loyola Marymount. She was nearly unstoppable at season’s end, scoring 16 goals with five assists in her final 12 matches. DANIELLE SLATON (SANTA CLARA) Senior defender A 2000 Olympian and four-time All-American, Slaton was the nation’s top defensive player, providing the NCAA champions a rare combination of tremendous speed, skill, intelligence and leadership. A superb attacking wing-back, Slaton moved into the middle for the Broncos, teaming with Anna Kraus to lead a defense that gave up 15 goals, shutout 14 foes and allowed an average of 4.59 shots and 2.23 shots on goal per game. She scored two goals and assisted on 11 others and was the easy pick as defensive MVP at the College Cup. ALY WAGNER (SANTA CLARA) Junior midfielder The peerless playmaker has been a known quantity since her early teens, but 2001 was a breakthrough season for the oft-injured star. Possessing skill, vision and savvy that make her among the most gifted creative players the United States has developed, Wagner fought off injury to contribute 18 goals, 20 assists and outstanding defense while providing an axis for the Broncos’ freshman-heavy lineup. She was the WCC’s Player of the Year and the offensive MVP at the College Cup, and the NCAA title was largely her doing. ABBY WAMBACH (FLORIDA) Senior forward The big, technical striker, who transformed her game last spring while playing with the U.S. Under-21 team, led the nation in scoring with 31 goals and 14 assists, carrying the Gators to the Southeastern Conference crown and their second final four in four seasons. The two-time SEC MVP netted three hat tricks and had 10 multigoal games, pushing her career total to a Florida-record 96 goals in 93 games. Wambach, with Kluegel and Slaton among the top three prospects for February’s WUSA draft, is one of the young players April Heinrichs is integrating into the national team. CHRISTIE WELSH (PENN STATE) Junior forward The three-time Big Ten Player of the Year scored 25 goals and assisted on another 18 as the Nittany Lions won their fourth successive conference championship and advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals. Welsh, also in April Heinrichs’ national team plans, broke the Big Ten career scoring mark — she has 69 goals in three seasons — and had six multigoal games, with hat tricks against Michigan and Pittsburgh. She last month was awarded the Hermann Trophy and Missouri Athletic Club Award. PLAYER OF THE YEAR Aly Wagner (Santa Clara) COACH OF THE YEAR Jerry Smith (Santa Clara) SA PLAYERS OF THE YEAR Women 1985 — Lisa Gmitter (George Mason) 1986 — April Heinrichs (North Carolina) 1987 — Michelle Akers (Central Florida) 1988 — Shannon Higgins (North Carolina) 1989 — Shannon Higgins (North Carolina) 1990 — Kristine Lilly (North Carolina) 1991 — Julie Foudy (Stanford) 1992 — Mia Hamm (North Carolina) 1993 — Mia Hamm (North Carolina) 1994 — Tisha Venturini (North Carolina) 1995 — Shannon MacMillan (Portland) 1996 — Debbie Keller (North Carolina) 1997 — Sara Whalen (Connecticut) 1998 — Danielle Fotopoulos (Florida) 1999 — Lorrie Fair (North Carolina) 2000 — Anne Makinen (Notre Dame) 2001 — Aly Wagner (Santa Clara) Men 1984 — Paul DiBernardo (Virginia) 1985 — Michael Brady (American) 1986 — Paul Caligiuri (UCLA) and John Kerr Jr. (Duke) 1992 — Claudio Reyna (Virginia) 1993 — Claudio Reyna (Virginia) 1994 — A.J. Wood (Virginia) 1995 — Mike Fisher (Virginia) 1996 — Johnny Torres (Creighton) 1997 — Ben Olsen (Virginia) 1998 — Wojtek Krakowiak (Clemson) 1999 — Aleksey Korol (Indiana) 2000 — Chris Gbandi (Connecticut) 2001 — To be announced Wednesday