Alcia Nabs Another All-America Honor
December 29, 2003 | Soccer
Dec. 29, 2003
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Illinois goalkeeper Leisha Alcia (St. Martin's HS, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada) can add another piece of hardware to her rapidly filling trophy case. Already the program's only first team soccer All-American, Alcia was named to the College Sports Television (CSTV) All-America First Team on Sunday.
Alcia played a vital role in Illinois' most successful season to date, which included the programs first ever Big Ten Tournament title, a school record for wins (16) and the schools highest ever national ranking (9th, NSCAA/Adidas Coaches poll). Individually, she ranked 10th in the nation and led the Big Ten in goals-against average (0.54), while leading an Illini defense that was one of the best in the nation. The unit shattered countless records, including least goals allowed (12) and shutouts in a season (13). The 13 shutouts were the second most by a team in Big Ten history behind Penn State's 17 in 2000. The defense also posted two record-breaking consecutive shutout streaks of five and six games, and 475 and 631 minutes this season.
Under the direction of head coach Janet Rayfield and goalkeeper coach Dale Armstrong, Alcia posted 12 solo shutouts and became the UI career leader in shutouts (16), saves (256) and GAA (1.14), while playing all but 17 minutes on the season. She had previously been named to the NSCAA/adidas All-America first team and to the All-Great Lakes Region first team, in addition to being a first team All-Big Ten pick and a three-time Big Ten Player of the Week this season.
2003 national champion North Carolina placed three players - Lindsay Tarpley, Lori Chalupny and Catherine Reddick - on the inaugural CSTV All-America team, while semifinalist UCLA, led by former Illini head coach Jillian Ellis, placed two individuals on the squad, which was announced Sunday night on the CSTV Primetime live studio show in New York. The CSTV All-America team was selected by the CSTV and CSTV.com editorial staffs.
CSTV, the first 24-hour college sports network, is available to more than 15 million homes nationally on cable and satellite. The network is available on Adelphia and Insight cable systems and is also available on DirecTV (channel 610). For information on CSTV availability in particular markets, consumers can log on to www.cstv.com or call their cable or satellite operator.
2003 CSTV Women's Soccer Division I All-America Team
GK - Leisha Alcia - Jr., ILLINOIS, Mississagua, Ontario
D - Melissa Tancredi - Sr., Notre Dame, Ancaster, Ontario
D - Nandi Pryce - Sr., UCLA, Casselberry, Fla.
D - Catherine Reddick - Sr., North Carolina, Birmingham, Ala.
M - Johanna Lohman - Sr., Penn State, Silver Spring, Md.
M - Lori Chalupmy - So., North Carolina, St. Louis, Mo.
M - Lindsey Huie - So., Portland, Laguna Woods, Calif.
M - Leslie Osborne - Jr., Santa Clara, Menomonee Falls, Wis.
F - Iris Mora - So., UCLA, Los Angeles, Calif.
F - Lindsay Tarpley - So., North Carolina, Kalamazoo, Mich.
F - Caroline Smith - So., Kansas, Edina, Minn.
