Glaser	McCullough	Shope	Johansing	Nelson

Five Blue Knights Named All-AMC
URBANA, Ohio (October 30, 2007) – Following a record-breaking season by the Blue Knight women’s soccer team, the individual honors have started to roll in. Urbana posted a 14-win season and made it to the American Mideast Conference tournament for the first time since 2001.Five Blue Knights were honored when the all-AMC teams were released today.Seniors Darby McCullough (Urbana, Ohio/Graham), a forward, and Julie Glaser (Xenia, Ohio/Xenia), a midfielder, and sophomore defender Kristen Shope (Dayton, Ohio/Carroll) were named second team all-AMC. Junior midfielder Abigail Nelson (Waynesville, Ohio/Waynesville) and sophomore goalkeeper Melanie Johansing (Cincinnati/Roger Bacon) were honorable mention all-AMC selections.

McCullough has been a four-year starter for the Blue Knights. She led the team this season with nine goals, including five game-winners. She also had five assists, four of which were game-winning assists. McCullough finished as Urbana’s third all-time leading scorer, closing out her career with 27 goals. She is fifth in career assists with 14. Her nine career game-winning goals is tied for first.

“Darby has great speed and great ball skills as a forward for the team,” said Urbana University Head Women’s Soccer Coach Jim Wendling. “She led the team in goal scoring in three of her four years. Darby's speed and goal scoring capability will be hard to replace next year.”

Glaser, a team captain, was Urbana’s attacking central midfielder this season. She had four goals and three assists, including three game-winning goals and two game-winning assists. Glaser played in 73 games during her career and started in 65, which is seventh all-time at Urbana. She closed out her career with five game-winning goals, fifth all-time at Urbana.

“Julie's ball skills, vision and shooting from distance help our attack score 42 goals this season for a 2.33 goals per game average which was fifth best in the region,” said Wendling. “Our midfield was effective when Julie played at her best; dribbling with speed, passing to an open forward or scoring from the outside.”

Shope, was Urbana’s central defender. Shope led the Blue Knight defensive unit to eight shutouts which ties a team record (2001 & 2006). The defense only gave up 18 regular season goals (1.00 Goals against average) which was fourth best in Region IX. She started 18 games and played in all 19 games this year. Shope was named by her teammates to be a captain for the 2008 season, along with Nelson.

“Kristen proves to be a tough and aggressive defender for us,” said Wendling. “She goes in hard for tackles, wins balls out of the air and passes well to feet. She takes charge in the back to control the defense.”

Nelson, a junior captain, is a power forward for Urbana. She finished the season with eight goals and a single-season Blue Knight record 11 assists. Nelson had three game-winning goals and five game-winning assists. She leads the Blue Knight all-time career list with 10 game-winning assists and is third all-time with six game-winning goals.

“Abi has great work ethic and strength as a striker,” said Wendling. “Her shot is very strong and accurate.”

Johansing had a stellar season as Urbana’s No. 1 goalkeeper. Her .88 GAA breaks the school record. She posted five shutouts and played 1383 minutes in goals, second all-time for Urbana. She gave up 16 goals which is also a new record for fewest goals allowed in a season by a full-time goalkeeper.

“Melanie’s strength in goal is her ability to making diving saves while also making saves on high shots,” said Wendling. “She has excellent punts, often punting across the half-line.”

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