I want to share with you a good news story that was underpublicized here in Avon Lake, but definitely should be told. The story concerns Annette Ilg who was a 2006 graduate of Avon Lake HS where she was a three sport star excelling in soccer, basketball and track. In soccer, she was one of the finest players to ever don a Shoregal uniform and ranks in the top 3 all time in goals, assists, & points. In basketball, she was a Varsity starter and played on a SWC conference championship team her senior year. In track, she qualified for the state meet her senior year in the 400 meter dash after running it for the first time just a few weeks before the state meet. She was primarily a 100 meter, 200 meter, & relay runner. On top of her athletic accomplishments, she was also valedictorian of her class.
She wanted to play soccer in college, but received little interest from any schools. She finally settled on UC San Diego, a Division II school to play basketball. She played four years of Varsity basketball there and was named to the all conference team her senior year,while earning a degree in biochemistry. The soccer coach was aware of her ability in soccer and persuaded her to join the team this past fall. She was now going to get that opportunity to fulfill her dream of playing college soccer which seemingly had passed her by. So, Annette enrolled in graduate level classes in Chemistry & Biochemistry and went out for the team. Now UC - San Diego is a national power in Div. II soccer with 7 national championships to their credit, so playing on their team is no small accomplishment. She made the most of her opportunity and had a dream season as she led the team in scoring with 11 goals and chipped in with 5 assists for a team leading 27 points. She led her team to the National Championship game by scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win over undefeated and No. 1 ranked The College of Saint Rose. Unfortunately, a story book finish was not in the cards as UCSD lost to current powerhouse Grand Valley State in the championship game by a score of 4-0. UCSD finished the season with a fine record of 19-3-3.
Just an amazing run for a girl who had not played competitive soccer in 4 years. I believe she is the first soccer player from Avon Lake either boy or girl to play in a national championship game. This is an inspirational story whose message is to never give up on your dreams no matter how unlikely it seems that they will be fulfilled. Also, make the most of every opportunity that comes your way. An additional fact to make the story even better is that Annette torn her ACL during her Junior season of basketball and needed to rehab her way back for an outstanding senior year in all three of her sports and then onto college. Yet another chapter in the impressive tradition of Shoregal soccer!!
Shorepals Meeting:
The next Shorepals meeting will be held on Thursday June 9, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. at the Old Firehouse at the corner of Lake Rd. and Rt. 83. This will be an important meeting as we make our final preparations for the Father's Day weekend.
Soccer Site of the Week:
We continue our build up to the Women's World Cup with a link to the FIFA site:
http://www.fifa.com/womensworldcup/
This is the offical site for the 2011 Women's World Cup. There you can find information about all the teams and players along with schedules and results during the tournament itself.
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