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Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Lehtinen, Tirelli Named to All-Sun Belt First Team
11/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 6, 2007
BOCA RATON, FL - The Florida Atlantic University women's soccer team received numerous post-season honors, as the Sun Belt Conference announced its individual player awards on Tuesday.
Senior forwards Susanna Lehtinen and Alicia Tirelli were named first team all-conference, while junior defender Janeke Simpkins and junior midfielder Jannica Tjeder earned second team distinction. Tjeder also landed Sun Belt "Newcomer of the Year" honors, in her first full season with FAU since transferring from Notre Dame.
The accolades are especially satisfying for an Owls team that suffered several setbacks, including numerous catastrophic injuries throughout the season to key players.
"The players are certainly deserving," said Brian Dooley, FAU women's soccer head coach. "Their recognition shows how much our team has come together to deal with all of these obstacles along the way, and it shows the respect our team has from other coaches in the conference."
Lehtinen showed a knack for finding the net throughout the season, scoring in nearly half of the Owls' games. "Sooski", as she's known to teammates and coaches, was amongst the league leaders in several per-game categories, including shots (1st, 4.25), points (2nd,1.56), goals (T-3rd, 0.56), assists (5th, 0.44) and game-winning goals (T-3rd, 4).
Tirelli tied Lehtinen for the team lead in goals (9) and paced all Owls players with a .214 shot percentage. She also ranks second in points (20), shots (42), shots on goal (26) and game-winning goals (3) for FAU.
Simpkins started all 18 games for Florida Atlantic, notching her first goal in the final game of the season - a 2-0 win over Florida International.
"Janeke has just been a solid, dependable presence in the back," said Dooley. "She's been able to cut out a lot of opportunities for the opponent all season long."
Tjeder made an immediate impact in her first season with FAU, generating 10 shots and establishing a heady presence in the midfield for the Owls.
"Jannica has just gotten better and better as the year's gone on," said Dooley. "She's one of those players you can't play without."
Florida Atlantic (9-7-2, 6-4-1 SBC) qualified for this week's Sun Belt Conference tournament as the sixth seed and will face third-seeded Denver (10-4-4, 7-2-2 SBC) in first round action on Wednesday at 11 a.m. ET in Mobile, AL.
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