Dec. 13, 2011
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Illinois soccer seniors Jenna Carosio and Marissa Mykines and sophomore Vanessa DiBernardo each took home National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-Region honors, the organization announced recently. Carosio and DiBernardo were named as a defender and midfielder, respectively, to the 2011 All-Great Lakes First Team while Mykines earned second team honors as a forward.
Carosio closed out the Novi, Mich., native's four-year career with a stellar senior season, earning Big Ten Conference Defender of the Year and First Team All-Big Ten after Illinois ended the regular season on an eight-game winning streak to secure the No. 2 seed in the 2011 Big Ten Tournament. Carosio was the only Illini to play every minute of the season, doing so as the central defender in Illinois' three-back defensive unit after spending the previous three years in the Orange and Blue midfield.
DiBernardo, the conference's Midfielder of the Year and Illinois' other First Team All-Big Ten selection, finished the 2011 campaign with 17 goals and five assists to earn 39 points, the second-most tallies and points ever recorded in a single season in Illini history. DiBernardo was clutch throughout the year, producing four multi-goal games and at least one point in 17 of the 23 contests the Naperville, Ill., native competed in.
Mykines finished second among all Illinois student-athletes in goals (8) and points (19), also contributing three assists on the season. A Spokane, Wash., native, Mykines opened the season with a four-point performance against her hometown school, Gonzaga. The 5-foot-3 midfielder/forward also came through with outstanding performances during both contests against Michigan State, scoring the game-winner in double-overtime of a 1-0 win in East Lansing, Mich., on Oct. 8 before ending the Spartans season in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals with the lone goal of the game in overtime.
Illinois concluded the season 17-5-2 overall and 8-2-1 in Big Ten contests, winning the conference's postseason tournament title to secure an automatic qualification for the 2011 NCAA Tournament. During NCAAs, the Orange and Blue bounced defending national champion Notre Dame in the first round - the only time to date a team has beaten the reigning champions in the opening contest - before falling to No. 4-nationally ranked Oklahoma State in Stillwater, Okla., in the second round, 1-0.
