Feb. 10, 2004
All-Patriot League soccer standouts Stacy
Finley (Alamo, Calif.) and Xochitl Piedra (Wheaton, Ill.) added to their
list of accomplishments recently, as the pair was named to Soccer Buzz
Magazine's All-Mid-Atlantic Region Second Team.
Both pivotal players in
leading the Mids to their first Patriot League Tournament title, as well
as their first NCAA Tournament appearance, Finley and Piedra were also
named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)
All-Mid-Atlantic Region Second Team. The duo joined 37 other women to
comprise three teams of 13 players each.
One of the most celebrated players in Navy women's soccer
history, Finley has garnered Soccer Buzz recognition three times during
her career - just the third player (joins Justine Fisher and Nicole
Aunapu) in Academy history to earn recognition three times. Finley who
led the Mids in scoring for the third-consecutive season with 35 points
on 12 goals and 11 assists, is a two-time NSCAA honoree, garnering
third-team kudos a year ago.
For Finley, 2003 was a season for the record books, as she
became Navy's all-time leading goal scorer with her game winner Oct. 3
against Delaware, while her hat trick just four days later against
American gave her the Mids' title of all-time leader in points.
Finley's 51-career goals ranks fourth in the Patriot League, while her
126 points is the sixth-best total in league history. She tied the
single-season school record with 11 assists, while finishing her career
tied for fourth on the Mids' all-time assists list with 24.
Piedra, who has garnered First-Team All-Patriot League kudos in
each of the last two years, is a two-time member of the Soccer Buzz
All-Mid-Atlantic Region team, earning third-team honors a year ago.
Meanwhile, she earned NSCAA All-Mid-Atlantic Region team recognition
earlier in the year, the first time she has been recognized by the
coaches association. One-of-four junior members of Navy's stifling
defense, Piedra has been the cornerstone of the Mids' defensive line
throughout her career.
She led the Navy defense to a 1.28 goals-against
average this fall, the seventh-lowest GAA in the program's history.
Navy' defense also produced eight shutouts this season, the fifth-best
total in the Navy record book. Piedra helped spearhead a wall which
limited the No. 1 team in the nation and eventual National Champion,
North Carolina Tar Heels, to just one goal (in the 73rd minute) and the
25th-ranked Terrapins of Maryland to just two goals.
