Dec. 28, 2005

Memphis, Tenn. - One week after picking up third team All-Central Region honors from NSCAA, junior forward Shoko Mikami was named to the All-Central Region first team by Soccer Buzz last week. It is the third straight year that Memphis has had a player named to the Soccer Buzz regional team as well as the NSCAA All-Regional team. The Central Region is comprised of 67 schools, by far the largest region of the six regions in the country, thereby making it the hardest to be recognized in.

Mikami had a record-setting year for the Lady Tigers as she set the school record for points in a season with 42 and tied the record for assists in a season with 12. She follows her former teammate Leanne McGee and fellow Japan native Yuiko Konno who each made a Soccer Buzz central region team in 2004 and 2003, respectively. Both were also named to an NSCAA central region team in the last two years as well. Prior to 2003, Memphis had never had a player honored on a postseason team by NSCAA or Soccer Buzz.

The Chiba, Japan native had one of the finest seasons ever for a Tiger women's soccer player. By recording a goal and two assists in Memphis' season-ending loss to UTEP in the Conference USA tournament, she was able to eclipse the previous record for 40 points in a season. With those two assists, she also tied the record for assists in a season with Christy Caswell, who also had 12 in 1996. Her 15 goals on the year is second only Jessica Gjertsen's 18 in 2000. Mikami also recorded two hat tricks this year, the first two by a Memphis player since Gjertsen had three in 2000. The two games in which she had hat tricks were two of three multiple-goal matches she had this year. Mikami finished the season 12th in the country in points per game and tied for 11th in the nation in assists per game. She also won the C-USA regular season "triple crown" as she led the league in assists and points and tied for the lead in goals during the regular season.