OMAHA, Neb. - For the second-straight year, Redbird senior Danielle Mutters was named the 2009 Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year as the Illinois State women's soccer team took home individual and team awards at the 2009 State Farm MVC Women's Soccer Championship Banquet Thursday night. Illinois State's coaching staff, led by head coach Drew Roff, was also voted the 2009 MVC Coaching Staff of the Year, while the team received the 2009 regular-season championship trophy.
"Kellie and Dee have both been tremendous assets to our program," said Roff. "All of the time and energy they put in has really contributed to our team's success and the experience of our student-athletes."
Mutters is just the third player in league history to earn the league's top defensive honor in back-to-back seasons, joining Evansville's Terra May (1996-97) and Missouri State's Sarah Guenther (2003-04), while becoming the first player at ISU to win the honor twice. The Redbird defense recorded three shutouts in conference play, while the Redbirds had a league-best goals against average during MVC contests (0.67).
Mutters, sophomore Jessica Carlson and senior Raquel Rattray were all first-team All-Valley selections, while freshman Rachel Bostick, senior Shannon Eccleston and junior Alyssa Schulz received second-team recognition. Senior Ammanda Wisniewski was an honorable mention pick, while Bostick, Kristin Cooley and Erin Egolf were named to the Valley All-Freshman Team.
"Mutters has put herself in pretty elite company by winning the Defensive Player of the Year for the second time," said Roff. "It is also great to see three freshmen on the All-Freshman Team for the second year in a row. All of them have very bright futures."
The Redbirds also received the MVC Fair Play Award with the fewest cards in conference play.
Mutters is a three-time All-Valley award winner and was named MVC Defensive Player of the Week, Sept. 28. Mutters also surpassed the Illinois State all-time career record for minutes played as Illinois State shutout Northern Iowa, 5-0, Wednesday (Oct. 14). Mutters has now played for 5880 minutes to eclipse Shannon Duggan's career record of 5553 minutes set in 2007.
The first team All-Valley selection for Rattray marked her third-straight honor of that kind. Rattray tied her career high for goals in a season with three and was named the 2009 Heidecke Award recipient.
Carlson earned her second All-Valley honor, after being named to the All-Valley Freshman Team in 2008. Carlson was also named the MVC Offensive Player of the Week (0ct. 12) after she eclipsed the Illinois State individual record for most points in a game with seven against SIU-Edwardsville (Oct. 7). Carlson netted one assist and three goals to tie the Illinois State individual record for most goals in the game with the hat trick. Carlson leads the team in points with 23, moving her to tie for fourth place for points in a season at Illinois State. Carlson also leads the Missouri Valley Conference in shots per game (3.06), points (23), points per game (1.35), goals (9), goals per game (0.53), assists (5), assists per game (0.29) and game-winning goals (5).
Bostick has 12 points on the season with 10 points in conference play, scoring four goals and two assists in conference games. Bostick scored her first collegiate goal against Morehead State (Sept. 27) and scored back-to-back goals against Northern Iowa (Oct. 14). Bostick leads the conference in points (10), points per game (2.00) and assists per game (0.40) during conference play, while tying for first with most goals in conference play (4).
For the second-straight year, Eccleston received a second team All-Valley nod, after starting 16 games for the Redbirds on defense. The Redbird defense posted a 1.33 goals-against-average in 2009 with six shutouts.
Two-time MVC Offensive Player of the Week, Schulz is second on the team in points with 17 and leads the team in assists with five, while she is tied for most goals in conference play with four on the season.
As a three-time honorable mention selection, Wisniewski ranks sixth at Illinois State for career points with 38, fourth for career goals with 16, fourth in career game-winning goals with six, third for career shots attempted with 170 and fourth for career shots on goal with 64.
Cooley has two assists on the season with her first collegiate point against Butler (Sept. 25), while Egolf scored her lone goal of the season against Evansville (Oct. 18).
Illinois State hopes to bring home another trophy before the weekend is done in Omaha. The top-seeded Redbirds take on the fourth-seeded Drake Bulldogs Friday at 3:30 p.m. in the semifinals of the State Farm MVC Tournament. No. 2 Missouri State and No. 3 Creighton will play the other semifinal at 6 p.m.
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