Droeger Earns All-Central Region Honors
12/16/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Dec. 16, 2005
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - For a second consecutive season senior defender Erin Droeger was named to the National Soccer Coaches' Association of America (NSCAA) all-Central Region third team, the organization announced on Friday.
Droeger helped lead the Owls to its first-ever conference championship in soccer in 2005. She has been one of the team's cornerstone players the last four years while anchoring the Rice defensive unit that proved to be one of the best in Conference USA. The senior from Huntington Beach, Calif., was also an NSCAA all-region selection in 2004 and she has been a first team all-conference honoree in two different leagues (C-USA and the Western Athletic Conference).
A fixture in the Owls' lineup, Droeger started every Rice game in which she has played dating back to her freshman year in 2002 for a school record 80 Division I contests. Her role on the field was to mark the other team's top scoring threat, and her defensive skills, tenacity and field-leadership has earned her the respect of other teams across the country. Defensively the Owls allowed among the fewest goals of any C-USA team (0.93 per game).
Droeger earned her reputation as a defender but she also provided a formidable attacking presence coming out of the back line. She scored two goals and recorded two assists in 2005. Both of her goals were Rice game-winners, including a victory in the semifinals of the C-USA Tournament. The senior registered an assist in the C-USA championship final, which the Owls won to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament, and on the road against nationally-ranked Texas. Droeger, a three-time all-conference academic honoree, set a great example on and off the field and was an easy choice to serve as a team captain.
Rice soccer finished the year with a 13-7-1 record. A total of four C-USA players were on the 2005 NSCAA all-Central Region team, including Droeger (third team, defender), SMU's Kimber Bailey (second team, forward), Houston's Sophia Mundy (third team, forward) and Memphis' Shoko Mikami (third team, forward).
