Nov. 11, 2009

2009 Women's Soccer All-Big Ten Release

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Forward Shayla Mutz was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team, representing Illinois as the conference office announced its season accolades today.

Mutz played over 1,000 minutes in her first season as an Illini, making seven starts and earning time in all 19 games. She finished fifth on the team with six points (two goals and two assists). The Homer Glen, Ill. native also put 46.7 percent of her shots on frame (7 of 15 attempts) as one of the most accurate Illini frontrunners. Mutz scored twice in Illinois' win over Milwaukee and picked up assists this year against UCLA and Michigan State.

The last time Illinois had a representative on the Big Ten All-Freshman Team was in 2007, when the trio of Laura Knutson, Danielle Kot and Cory Steigerwald all received the honor.

Junior Krystin Miller was Illinois' recipient of the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award for the second straight year. The central defender is one of just four Illinois players who started every game in 2009, as she also scored the first two goals of her career this year on penalty kicks. The Berkey, Ohio native was recently named to the ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District 5 team.

Penn State swept the Big Ten individual honors en route to its 12th consecutive conference championship. Seniors Katie Schoepfer and Alyssa Naeher named Big Ten Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, respectively, while midfielder Christine Nairn was tabbed Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Erica Walsh earned Coach of the Year.