Lauren Noonan
Sophomore Lauren Noonan, junior Amy Carr and senior Lauren Eberts were named to the Academic All-Mid American Conference team as voted by Faculty Athletic Representatives from schools around the conference. It is the first time since 2007 that three NIU players received distinction in the same season.
“I’m so happy for Amy, Lauren and Eberts to receive Academic All-MAC honors. It is nice when they get acknowledged for their commitment on and off the field,” said head coach John Ross.
“Doing well in school is a direct correlation to how they perform on the field. It is a pleasure to have these student athletes as part of our soccer program at Northern Illinois University.”
Eberts, a native of Pickerington, Ohio, carries a 3.743 grade point average in her public health concentration and Spanish minor.
Clearly a leader in the classroom, Eberts was a team captain in 2012 and started all 19 matches during the season, playing every minute in 12 of those contests. She also closed her career No. 6 all-time in career starts with 74. The Huskie defense was the top in the MAC this season as it surrendered the fewest goals during the season, 19. As a whole, the NIU defense had six shutouts.
Amy Carr
While Eberts was a key cog in the defensive backfield, Carr was the main figure in net for Northern Illinois, appearing in 18 matches with 16 starts for the Huskies at goalkeeper.
The Hemel Hempstead, England native and exercise science major boasted a 3.609 GPA, while leading the Huskies to an 8-8-2 record between the sticks. During her 1,620 minutes in net, she carried six shutouts and only allowed 16 goals to slip past her for a goals against average of 0.89. Carr became the first net minder in NIU history to earn All-MAC honors at season’s end.
Finally, Noonan, a native of Naperville, appeared and started in all 19 matches this season at center defensive midfielder for the Huskies in 2012 with a goal and two assists.
With her roles as a defender, distributor and scorer, Noonan also excels in the classroom with a 3.903 GPA in speech pathology. While she finished the season with two assists, Noonan was a key factor in NIU’s corner kick offense, helping generate four goals from the corner flag this season.
Four other Huskies earned Honorable Mention Academic All-MAC honors. The distinction went to Courtney Ksiazek (3.328, operations & information management), Allie McBride (3.222, marketing), Nici Newquist (3.618, nutrition) and Lauren Solomon (3.643, math education).
The Huskies three honorees is tied for the second-most in program history. Northern Illinois had five players selected to the team in 1998.
For more information on NIU women’s soccer and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.
