Press Release: Wittenberg Soccer Teams Pick Up Impressive Haul Of 2007 All-Ohio Awards

Meghan O'Rourke

Suzanne Medwid

Amanda Farrell

Matt Borland

Shane Price

Springfield, Ohio — The last set of 2007 men's and women's soccer postseason awards has been released, and once again the Wittenberg Tigers collected more than their fair share of accolades. A total of nine Wittenberg soccer student-athletes earned NCAA Division III All-Ohio awards from the Ohio Collegiate Soccer Association (OCSA).

For the women, who posted the best record in school history at 18-3-3 in 2007, six players earned spots on the honor roll, more than any other school. The men, who finished 12-4-3 overall in 2007, had the second-highest total with three players chosen.

Goalkeeper Meghan O'Rourke, class of 2008 from Columbus, Ohio, midfielder Amanda Farrell, class of 2008 from Loveland, Ohio, and midfielder Suzanne Medwid, class of 2009 from Columbus, Ohio, merited spots on the first team. O'Rourke, the school and North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) record-holder for career shutouts, and Medwid, the team's second-leading scorer, were both first-team All-NCAC and first-team All-Great Lakes Region honorees before becoming the program's first two All-Americans in more than a decade. O'Rourke picked up second-team All-America and Medwid was a third-team choice.

Farrell, the team's top goal-scorer each of the last two years, added to her first-team All-NCAC and second-team all-region awards. Midfielder Lindsey Rusch, class of 2008 from Columbus, Ohio, and forward Lisa Rusch, class of 2008 from Columbus, Ohio, were picked for the second team, while defender Maggie Amorello, class of 2011 from Sutton, Mass., rounded out the Wittenberg honorees with third-team recognition.

Rounding out the women's All-Ohio awards, Wittenberg Head Coach Norm Riker picked up his first Ohio Coach of the Year award after earlier picking up his first Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year honor. Riker, also the 2004 NCAC Coach of the Year, led Wittenberg to its first NCAC regular season title and second consecutive NCAC Tournament crown in 2007. Following a run to the program's first-ever NCAA Division III Tournament Round of 16, Riker has a six-year record of 72-37-13 at Wittenberg, far and away the best in school history in terms of both total wins and winning percentage.

On the men's side, forward Matt Borland, class of 2009 from Kettering, Ohio, added first-team All-Ohio honors to go along with his NCAC Offensive Player of the Year and first-team All-Great Lakes Region awards. Last month he earned third-team All-America honors to become just the fourth Wittenberg men's soccer student-athlete to pick up an All-America award, and the first since 1993.

Borland, who led the Tigers with five assists in 2007, was joined on the All-Ohio first team by forward Shane Price, class of 2009 from Minford, Ohio, the Tigers' leading scorer. Defender Justin Jenkins, class of 2009 from Dublin, Ohio, picked up third-team honors after spearheading one of the stingiest defensive units in the NCAC.

Written By: Ryan Maurer