Lady Jacket Soccer Honored for Academics (12/14/06)

BILLINGS, MT – Montana State-Billings women’s soccer players Megan Plank and Ally Stroup have been selected to the NSCAA/adidas College Scholar All-West Region team.  Stroup was chosen as a second team forward, and Plank was a third team goalkeeper.  Co-Team MVPs this season, the two seniors were four-year starters for the Yellowjackets and were the driving forces behind the team’s success in recent years.  Before Stroup and Plank joined the program it had never had a winning season.  In the four years they were starters, the Jackets posted a combined record of 42-25-7 with three consecutive winning campaigns.

Based on both academics and athletics, the NSCAA/adidas Scholar All-Region teams are comprised of college soccer players from all levels, NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III, and NAIA.  There were only six non-Division I players selected to the first three teams with eight more named to the honorable mention team.  The all-region first team was comprised entirely of NCAA I student-athletes.  Stroup and Tara Kirkpatrick of Regis were the only non-Division I players named to the second team.  Plank was the only non-Division I goalkeeper selected to any of the scholar all-region teams.

Stroup, a psychology major with a 3.62 cumulative grade point average, finished her career at MSU Billings as the best offensive player in school history.  She holds career school records for goals, assists, and points.  This season Stroup scored 16 goals and had seven assists to lead the Heartland Conference in points, points per game, goals, and goals per game.  She was also second in the league for game winning goals and fourth for assists and assists per game.  In addition to the NSCAA scholar award, Stroup has twice been named to the ESPN The Magazine All-District VII second team.

Plank, a chemistry major with a 3.48 cumulative GPA, holds every goalkeeping record at MSU Billings, including career wins, shutouts, saves, and goals against average.  She was a four-time team MVP.  This season she led the Heartland Conference in shutouts and ranked second for goals against average, save percentage, and saves.  Plank set school single season records this year for wins, shutouts, and goals against average.

In addition to the individual honors for Stroup and Plank, the Lady Jacket team received the NSCAA Team Academic Award for the fifth consecutive year.  The award is given to programs with a team cumulative GPA over 3.00.  MSU Billings had the highest cumulative GPA among college soccer programs in Montana, and of the 40 NCAA II schools that received the award the Yellowjackets ranked fourteenth.