Despite a rough season by the IU women's soccer team, the squad still pulled away with Big Ten honors for two of their individuals.
Defender Kelly Lawrence was named First Team All-Big Ten. The junior becomes the third Hoosier all-time to earn first team conference honors, and is just the second to win the honor in consecutive seasons. The is Lawrence's third conference honor after being named to Big Ten's second team as a freshman.
Fellow defender, Kelly Krawczak, was named to the Big Ten's freshman team. Krawczak played every minute at center back during Big Ten play for the Hoosiers.
The tandem of Lawrence and Krawczak helped solidify one of the best back lines in the conference. The Hoosiers let up eight goals in their 10 conference games. And in their late push to maybe sneak through the back door into the Big Ten Tournament, IU shut out their last three opponents 1-0.
The full press release is below:
Lawrence, Krawczak Earn Big Ten Honors
Nov. 5, 2008
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Junior defender Kelly Lawrence of the Indiana women's soccer team has been named First Team All-Big Ten for the second year in a row, the conference office announced today. In addition to Lawrence's honor, fellow defender Kerri Krawczak was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team.
"Kelly has yet again shown that she is one of the best players in the country," head coach Mick Lyon said. "I'm also very happy that Kerri played at such a high level as a freshman. Both of these awards are justly deserved."
Lawrence became just the third player in school history to earn first team honors from the conference twice in her career (Wendy Dillinger, Kim Grodek) and just the second to win first team honors two years in a row (Grodek - 2003, 2004). She is the first player in school history to earn all-conference honors three times, as she was a second team All-Big Ten selection as a freshman in 2006.
The Chigwell, Essex, England native started every game on the Indiana back line in 2008 and played all but 11 minutes on the season for the Hoosiers. She scored three goals and an assist in addition to leading a defensive unit that allowed just eight goals during the conference season.
Krawczak picked up All-Freshman laurels after a strong debut season on the back line for Indiana. The Strongsville, Ohio, native was a NSCAA High School All-American prior to joining the Hoosiers and did not disappoint in 2008. She played at center back for IU for the entire conference season, playing every minute, and she helped Lawrence anchor one of the top defensive units in the Big Ten.
In addition to Lawrence and Krawczak gaining all-conference recognition, freshman Kirsta Kellin was recognized as IU's sportsmanship award honoree for women's soccer.
