Lake Forest College Sports Information
November 16, 2004
Contact: Mike Wajerski , SID

Five Foresters Named All-MWC, Gibson and Coach Bell Earn Yearly Awards
Melissa Stevenson and Mei-Yun Gibson named to first team

Mei-Yun Gibson was the MWC's top defensive player
and T.R. Bell was named Coach of the Year
LAKE FOREST, IL - The 2004 All-Midwest Conference women’s soccer teams were released Tuesday (November 16) and five Foresters made the list, led by senior Mei-Yun Gibson (Denver, CO/Eaglecrest), who was named MWC Defensive Player of the Year. In addition, head coach T.R. Bell was chosen as the league’s Coach of the Year for the second straight season.

2004 marks the first season the league has divided its player of the year honor between both an offensive and defensive honoree, making Gibson the first-ever Defensive Player of the Year Award winner. She was named MWC Defensive Performer of the Week twice this year (and twice in 2003) while anchoring a Lake Forest defense that surrendered just 11 goals and posted eight shutouts during the team’s 16-game regular season. Gibson was also a First Team All-MWC selection last year and also earned Third Team All-Central Region honors.

Junior Melissa Stevenson (Littleton, CO/Dakota Ridge) was also named to the league’s first team, as she had been in each of her first two seasons. Stevenson led the Foresters in both goals (14) and points (36) to match the program’s fifth-highest single-season total in both categories. After three years she ranks second in school history with 40 goals, 28 assists, and 108 points. In the team’s nine conference games this season, she ranked fifth in the league in goals and tied-for-fifth in points.

Senior Sarah Shepherd (Newburgh, ON/Williston-Northampton), junior Tanya Lopez (Albuquerque, NM/St. Pius X), and sophomore Kristyne Operzedek (Deerfield, IL/Deerfield) each earned second team honors. Shepherd, who also earned second team honors in 2003, often started the Foresters’ offensive efforts from her defensive post, making her at least partly responsible for both the team’s low number of goals allowed and its school record 3.41 goals scored per game. Lopez was second on the squad with 11 goals, nine assists, and 31 points and now owns the 10th-highest career point total in the program’s history. Operzedek, the 2003 First Team All-MWC goalkeeper, surrendered less than one goal per 90 minutes this year and ranked second among the league’s starters in goals against average.

Bell’s Coach of the Year honor came after he guided the Foresters to a perfect 9-0-0 record in league play and their second MWC title in the last four seasons. He is now 85-46-4 (.644) overall in his eight-year career and 56-14-2 (.792) in conference contests.

The Forester women’s soccer program has now garnered at least five all-conference selections 10 times in the team’s 19-year history.

Complete List of 2004 All-Midwest Conference Honorees