Grand Valley Magazine Winter 2014 - (Page 13)

AT H L E T I C S rand Valley's soccer team continued its NCAA Division II dominance by winning its third national championship in five years, shutting out West Florida, 2-0, December 7 in Evans, Georgia. It was the Lakers' 21st shutout of the season; they finished with a 24-0-1 record. The 21 shutouts ties a Division II record with the 2010 Lakers, who also won a national title. Grand Valley's first soccer title came in 2009. The goalkeeper behind those 21 shutouts was senior Abbey Miller (pictured above). Miller's goals-against average (0.16) set a new Laker record, as did her 24 wins as a starter. A year ago, Miller played in four games. She credited her success in the net to head coach Dave DiIanni and former goalkeeper Chelsea Parise. "I was the back-up to Chelsea and was able to watch her and learn from her," Miller said. At the start of the 2013 season, DiIanni and the rest of the coaching staff worked closely with Miller to help her refine her leadership skills to organize her defenders and communicate with them. She said that may have been her most difficult lesson. "I'm more of a quiet person, so to have to shout out orders and communicate with them, it was bringing me out of my comfort zone," she said. Among other post-season honors, Miller was named to the Daktronics Women's Soccer All-American Team and the Capital One Academic All-America second team. The accounting major carries a 3.34 GPA. by Michele Coffill photo illustration by Amanda Pitts GVM ONLINE Watch a behind-the-scenes video of this photo shoot at www.gvsu.edu/gvmagazine. 13 www.gvsu.edu Grand Valley Magazine http://www.gvsu.edu/gvmagazine http://www.gvsu.edu

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Grand Valley Magazine Winter 2014

Campus News
International Education
Arts
Athletics
Donor Impact
Covenant House provides education, opportunity
Going the extra Medical Mile
Seeds of Promise
Student media: creating community, content and careers
Q&A Bill Holsinger-Robinson
Research
Off the Path
Alumni

Grand Valley Magazine Winter 2014