Bowling Green State University Athletics
Falcons Hand Out Awards At Banquet
April 05, 2003 | Women's Soccer
April 5, 2003
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Senior Erika Flanders, freshman Julie Trundle and sophomore Kristy Coppes each earned most valuable player awards as the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team held its annual banquet Friday evening (Apr. 4). Head coach Andy Richards guided the 2002 version of the Falcons to a berth in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament in November.
Junior Kasey Freeman was named the winner of the "Fighting Falcon" Award, while senior Susan Wallace earned the team's "Hustle" award and freshman Natalie Sampiller was named the Falcons' most improved player.
The "Fighting Falcon" award winner is selected by the BGSU coaching staff, while the other five awards are the result of voting by the team members.
Flanders (Mason, Ohio/Mason) was named the team's Most Valuable Player on defense. The 2002 team captain, Flanders finishes her career holding every goalkeeping record -- single-match, season and career -- in school history. She was just the second Falcon in the six-year history of the program to earn All-MAC First-Team honors after playing every minute of every match in 2002. Flanders had a record of 12-8-2, a goals-against average of 1.24 and totals of 137 saves and seven shutouts, setting school marks in each category. She was named to the All-Ohio and Academic All-Ohio teams, as well as the NSCAA All-Region squad in 2002. In her career, Flanders started all 78 matches in which she played. She set MAC career records for minutes played and saves, is tied for second in conference history in wins and ranks third in shutouts.
Trundle (Medina, Ohio/Medina) was named the Falcons' MVP in the midfield. One of just three Falcons to start all 22 matches in 2002, joining Flanders and Freeman, she was second on the team in scoring with 18 points. That point total included eight assists, just one away from the school record. Her five goals placed her second on the team, and included two of the season's biggest goals, a header with six seconds left in regulation in a tie at Eastern Michigan and the overtime penalty-kick goal that moved the Falcons past Buffalo in the MAC Tournament quarterfinals. Trundle set school records by scoring at least one point in seven consecutive matches and an assist in five-straight contests. In MAC matches, Trundle's total of 13 points placed her second on the team, just one point behind Coppes.
Coppes (Findlay, Ohio/Findlay) was the Falcons' MVP on offense. The school's career goals leader after just two seasons, she tied the single-season record in that category by scoring 12 goals for the second consecutive year. She led the team in both goals and points, tallying 26 points for the second year in a row. Coppes set a school record by scoring three goals in a span of just 5:56 in a 5-2 win over Detroit, and she had two-goal matches vs. both Marshall and Western Michigan. She set a school record with four match-winning goals on the season. Coppes earned MAC Player-of-the-Week honors on Sept. 9 after her hat trick vs. UDM, and she also was named to the MAC's All-Tournament Team. She ranks second in school history in career points, with 52.
Freeman (Middletown, Ohio/Edgewood) was the recipient of the "Fighting Falcon" Award. The award is given to a team member who, through words and actions, most accurately reflects the program's philosophy of 'Today I gave all that I have, for everything I left behind is gone forever.' Freeman, for the most part a stay-at-home defender, helped anchor a Falcon back-line that helped BG post a goals-against average of 1.24 (1.06 in MAC matches). Freeman has played in 52 matches in her first three years at BG, and her 47 career starts are the most among the Falcons' non-seniors. Freeman, who will be one of just two seniors on the 2003 Falcon squad, will enter the season with a streak of 41 consecutive starts for the Brown and Orange.
Wallace (Litchfield, Ohio/Buckeye) earned the "Hustle" Award, given to the player who shows a consistent enthusiasm for the game and a tremendous work ethic, both at practice and during games. Wallace played in 18 matches in 2002, making eight starts. She scored four points on the season, all in the Detroit match. Wallace had assists on a pair of Coppes goals early in the second half, then scored a goal of her own. All four points came in a span of just 7:50. Wallace ends her career with 16 points, and her total of six goals includes what may be the program's biggest goal to date, the match-winning score in the 2000 MAC Tournament semifinal contest vs. Western Michigan.
Sampiller (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) picked up the Most Improved Player Award. After seeing action in just three of the season's first five contests, all off the bench, she moved into the starting 11 for the Missouri contest on Sept. 15, and remained there for the rest of the season. Sampiller played in a total of 20 matches, making 17 starts, and had a pair of assists. She assisted on the match-wing goal vs. Marshall, and also had an assist vs. Northern Illinois.
In addition to handing out the aforementioned awards, the Falcons also recognized the 2002 team's four seniors, and each of the four -- Flanders, Wallace, Jill Conover and Tracy Gleixner -- delivered speeches. Richards and his program also paid tribute to team member Leslie Dawley, who passed away on Nov. 5.
The Falcons posted an overall record of 12-8-2 in 2002, setting a school record for wins in a season. BGSU, picked to finish ninth in the MAC in the preseason coaches poll, finished fourth with a 7-4-1 league record and advanced to the semifinals of the MAC Tournament before falling to top-seeded and eventual tourney champion Miami on the RedHawks' home field.
BGSU WOMEN'S SOCCER - 2002 AWARDS
