Dec. 15, 2003

Women's Soccer Player Sara Murray Is Named First-Team All-America; Two Men's Soccer Athletes Receive Third-Team Honors

The National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) announced their all-America teams recently and three Bulldog players were honored.

On the women's side, junior forward Sara Murray (Eden Prairie, Minn./Eden Prairie) became the first Truman women's soccer player to receive first-team all-America honors. She is just the fourth all-America player at the school, joining Jocelyn Parisi (second-team, 1997), Emily Huyck (second-team, 2001) and Jennifer Buscher (third-team, 2001, second-team, 2002).

The men's soccer team also set a school-first by having two players in one year named to one of the all-America teams. Freshman goalkeeper Nate Gibson (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) and sophomore forward Sean Birrell (Perth, Scotland/Perth) were named third-team all-Americas. They are the sixth and seventh all-Americas in Truman men's soccer history.

Murray shattered nearly every Truman and Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association career record this past season. She led the team with a school-record 18 goals and 51 points and she scored seven game-winning goals. Through Nov. 23, Murray was ranked 9th in the nation in assists and tied for 13th in points. She has earned three NSCAA first-team all-region honors, three first-team all-MIAA awards and was this year's conference MVP. Murray was also named a second-team academic all-America according to CoSIDA this season.

Gibson led the nation in goals against average in 2003 with a .442 goals against average, the 21st-best single-season mark in NCAA history. He was 17-1 on the year with 13 shutouts and a .904 save percentage. Gibson's shutout percentage (0.72) was the second-best in NCAA history and during the season, he had the 15th-best consecutive shutout minute streak after not allowing a goal in 603:38. He set new school standards for single-season shutouts and goals against average and after one season, is ranked fifth at Truman in career shutouts.

Birrell scored a team-leading 14 goals and notched seven assists for 35 points this past season. His 14 goals tied for the fifth-most at Truman for a season and his 35 points tied for eighth in the Bulldog single-season record book. Birrell had five game-winning goals and a key score in the NCAA win over SIU-Edwardsville. In two years, Birrell has earned two all-region honors, being named a second-team selection last year and first-team honors this season.

The women's soccer team ended their season with a 18-2-1 record and a No. 18 national ranking. The Bulldogs won their fifth-consecutive MIAA title after recording a perfect 14-0-0 conference mark. The team advanced to their third-straight NCAA tournament, where they fell in the first-round to Nebraska-Omaha.

Truman men's soccer had a perfect regular season with a 19-0-0 record, which included 16 shutout wins. After receiving a first-round bye in the NCAA tournament, the Bulldogs knocked off SIU-Edwardsville by a 5-2 score to win the Central regional title. In the NCAA quarterfinals, a late goal ended Truman's season as it fell 2-1 to Findlay (Ohio).

Women's Soccer | Truman Athletics