Jan. 6, 2005

Memphis, Tenn. - Two members of the Memphis women's soccer team were named to the Soccer Buzz Regional teams that were announced today. Senior defender Leanne McGee added another postseason honor as she was selected to the All-Central Region second team while freshman goalkeeper Natalie Haerens was named to the Central Region All-Freshman team. This is the second straight year that Memphis has had at least one player honored by Soccer Buzz, a online publication devoted to women's soccer, in its postseason awards, as Yuiko Konno was named the the All-Central Region third team last year. Prior to last year, Memphis had never had a Soccer Buzz honoree.

McGee missed just one game this year due to a red card and started all 18 games that she played in. She was a crucial part of the Memphis defense that finished the year ranked fourth in Conference USA with a 1.19 goals against average, which set a school record in that category. She also helped the Tigers tie a school record by recording seven shutouts and 11 wins this year. She was named the C-USA co-Defensive Player of the Week for the final weekend of the season after helping the defense record a shutout against Cincinnati, helping hold the Bearcats to just seven shots while she also recorded her first assist of the year on Monica Powell's game-winning goal in double overtime.

McGee was a first-team all-Conference USA selection at defender and second team selection to the NSCAA All-Central Region team. Both awards also marked the the second straight year that Memphis had a player named to those respective teams.

Haerens started 15 and appeared in 16 of UM's 19 games this year in goal, and was also named to the C-USA all-freshman team. Haerens had one of the best seasons ever for a Memphis goalkeeper as she recorded six shutouts of the team's seven shutouts to break the school single-season record. Two of those came in her first two games. The six shutouts are tied for second in school history for a career. She made 71 saves on the year and held opponents to 18 goals and a 1.18 goals against average in just over 1370 minutes of play. She was named Conference Defensive Player of the Week twice this year and it came in back-to-back weeks in September.