2006 Women's Soccer Players of the Week

November 6, 2006
Erin Oliver, Middlebury
(Senior, Midfielder - Essex Junction, Vt.)
Oliver scored the decisive goal in overtime for Middlebury during the final match of the 2006 NESCAC Women’s Soccer Championship, giving the Panthers a 1-0 victory and their first conference title since 2000. The senior midfielder has had an impressive fall for Middlebury, scoring goals in six of her last eight games.

October 30, 2006
Mary Bucci, Bates
(Senior, Forward - Norfolk, Mass.)
Bucci found the perfect time to score her first two goals of the season, netting both of Bates’ goals in Sunday’s 2-1 overtime victory at Tufts in the first round of the 2006 NESCAC Women’s Soccer Championship. Her shot from 30 yards out won the game in the fifth minute of overtime. During last year’s first round game at Williams, Bucci scored the only goal of the game for a 1-0 win, as the Bobcats went on to win the 2005 NESCAC Women’s Soccer Championship.

October 23, 2006
Piper Crowell, Amherst
(Senior, Goalkeeper - San Rafael, Calif.)
Crowell made 19 saves while only allowing one goal through a pair of NESCAC victories last week that ended up giving the Jeffs the number-one seed in the upcoming NESCAC Women’s Soccer Championship. On Wednesday against Connecticut College, Crowell made a total of nine stops in her third shutout of the sea-son. She followed it up on Saturday at Wesleyan, turning aside 10 attempts in a 2-1 victory. Crowell currently leads the NESCAC with a 0.62 goals against average.

October 16, 2006
Ann Zeigler, Bowdoin
(Junior, Forward - Washington, D.C.)
Zeigler came up big for the Polar Bears last week, scoring five goals through two victories to help her squad snap a five-game winless skid. Zeigler scored the first two goals of the game during Bowdoin’s mid-week win over the University of New England, followed by netting three goals during Saturday’s victory over Connecticut College.

Gabrielle Woodson, Williams
(Sophomore, Forward - Plano, Texas)
Woodson, competing with a cast to protect her broken left wrist, scored two key goals during a 1-0-1 week for the Ephs. Woodson tallied the decisive goal with 13 seconds remaining in overtime for a 3-2 win over Keene St. on Wednesday, then scored the game-tying goal in the second half during an eventual 1-1 tie with Middlebury on Saturday.

October 9, 2006
Kim Alexander, Bates
(Senior, Forward - Cumberland, Maine)
Alexander scored the game-tying and game-winning goals as Bates won its only game last week, a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over previously-unbeaten NESCAC foe Williams on Saturday. Alexander leads the team with eight goals and 18 points so far this season.

October 2, 2006
Martha Furtek, Tufts
(Junior, Midfielder - East Falmouth, Mass.)
Furtek figured into all three Tufts goals last week, helping the Jumbos post their first two victories of the season. Furtek started off the week on Tuesday with a goal and an assist in a 2-0 win against Babson, followed by tallying the lone goal for a 1-0 win over Bates on Saturday in a rematch of last year’s NESCAC Women’s Soccer Championship game.

September 25, 2006
Adele Plunkett, Middlebury
(Sophomore, Goalkeeper - Austin, Texas)
In a 2-0 week for Middlebury, Plunkett made 14 saves while allowing just one goal. The sophomore goalkeeper made seven saves during a 3-1 mid-week victory over Keene St., before making another seven stops in a 1-0 win against NESCAC foe Wesleyan on Saturday. Plunkett, who ranks second in the NESCAC in both goals against (0.50) and save percentage (.935), is off to a 4-0-0 start this season.

September 18, 2006
Laura Williamson, Colby
(Senior, Forward, Manchester, Conn.)
Williamson had three goals in a 1-0-1 week for the Mules. She opened the week for Colby with the first two goals of the game against Maine-Farmington on Wednesday afternoon, as the Mules cruised to a 4-0 victory. On Saturday against NESCAC rival Bowdoin, Williamson netted the game-tying goal midway through the first half in a contest that ended in a 1-1 draw. She now has 37 goals and 87 points during her career at Colby.

September 11, 2006
Liza Benson, Colby
(Senior, Goalkeeper, Orchid, Fla.)
Benson stopped nine shots, including three in overtime, to help the Mules earn a 0-0 draw at nationally-ranked Tufts on Saturday afternoon. Benson, a NESCAC All-Conference First Team selection last season, also posted a shutout against Tufts to begin the 2005 season, and has allowed only two goals in the past three meetings with the Jumbos.