Dec. 20, 2004

CHAMPAIGN, Ill.--The honors continue to come in for Illinois Soccer as four Illini were named to the NSCAA/Adidas All-Great Lakes Region teams. Senior forward Tara Hurless (Boylan Catholic HS/Rockford, Ill.) was named First-Team All-Region, while a trio of Illini backfielders captured three of the four defensive spots on the Second-Team All-Region list. Senior goalkeeper Leisha Alcia (St. Martin's HS/Mississauga, Ontario) and junior defenders Kelly Campbell (Gaithersburg HS, Gaithersburg, Md.) and Christen Karniski (Iowa City West HS, Iowa City, Iowa) all took second-team honors for their efforts in the Illini backfield this season.

Hurless, also named a second-team All-American by the NSCAA, led the Illini in every offensive category this season, including goals scored for the third straight year. The Illini co-captain put her name atop several Illini records including career goals, assists, points, shot attempts, game-winning goals, games played, games started and season game-winning goals.

Alcia is a repeat All-Region honoree for her stellar efforts defending the Illini goal. As a senior, Alcia finished the season with a goals against average of 0.83 and posted eight shutouts, ranking third in the Big Ten in both categories.

Starting all 24 matches for the Illini, Campbell and Karniski played vital roles in the stingy Illini defense only allowing 20 goals on the season. Campbell, also a First-Team All-Big Ten selection was a vocal leader in the back with Alcia, keeping opposing front-runners out of scoring contention. On the season, Campbell recorded one assist and fired seven shots. As one of the Illini's top defenders, Karniski has started every game in her three-year career as an Illini. This season, Karniski notched two goals and three assists and was also named a NSCAA/Adidas Third-Team Scholar All-American with a GPA of 3.94 in English.