SPARTANS SIGN STANDOUT AMERICAN GOALKEEPER

WOMEN’S SOCCER
TUESDAY, JULY 5, 2011
RECRUIT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPARTANS SIGN STANDOUT AMERICAN GOALKEEPER

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LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western University women’s soccer team solidified its goaltending position for the next few years with the signing Idaho State University transfer Bailey Williams (Puyallup, WA) Tuesday.

After three years as the starter at Idaho State University, the 5-foot-6 keeper, who will redshirt this year but will enter her fourth year of eligibility in the fall of 2012, will join incumbent starting netminder Kristen Funk (Calgary, Alta.) and incoming first-year Cara Santaga (New Westminster, B.C.) to create a refurbished goaltending trio after the graduation of Veronika Rogina (Surrey, B.C.) and Ana Pruim (Delta, B.C.).

“I am delighted that Bailey has decided that she sees her future at TWU,” said Spartans coach Graham Roxburgh. “I am impressed by her as a person and she has a track record of success as a starter at her previous university. She is very athletic and experienced and I feel she will bring a maturity to our squad. We have had such a great keeper core in our program the past few years and with Bailey’s addition we will continue to have strength in this position for the coming years. Bailey is a great addition to our program and has great character and competitiveness.”

In her three years at Idaho State, Williams started in 43 of her team’s 56 games and placed herself securely in the school’s record books. Over her career, she played 3858.04 minutes, which has her third on Idaho State’s all-time list, she earned 17 wins, which has her second on the career list and she is third all-time with 196 career saves and tied for fourth with eight career shutouts.  

In her third year at ISU, in 2010, Williams made 73 saves, picked up three shutouts, had a save percentage of .745 and was named Big Sky Conference Player of the Week once and runner up twice.

In 2009, she helped the Bengals to a 10-8-0 record, which was the second most wins in a single season for ISU women’s soccer. In the process, she posted a 1.48 goals against average, which was fourth best in the Big Sky Conference, and earned three shutouts.

As a rookie, in 2008, Williams was named the team’s Rookie of the Year, playing in 986:56 minutes at the keeper position and posting a 1.46 goals against average. That year, she also received Big Sky All-Academic honours.

In high school, Williams, who was named her school’s Athlete of the Year in her senior season, was not only an accomplished athlete on the soccer pitch, but was also a star on the basketball court and in track and field. With her soccer team, she was a two-time team MVP and two-time team captain as she twice led her team to the State Cup semifinals. On the hardcourt, she was a three-year team captain while in track and field she twice had top five finishes in discus at the 4A state meet.

But after choosing soccer as her post-secondary sport of choice, Williams has no doubt made the right decision and now, in coming to Trinity Western, she feels once again she is making a sound choice.

“I heard Graham was a great guy and they had a good program and that I should check it out,” said Williams, who plans to study art and design. “I decided to fly over here and I loved it instantly. As soon as I met the coaches I knew that it was probably going to be a good fit.

“I’m excited to come in and compete. I’m a big competitor. The team in general is phenomenal. I came up and trained with them and they really blew me away with how good they were so I think it’s going to be a good year and I’m excited to get in and train.”

Williams joins an already strong Spartans women’s soccer recruiting class, which includes midfielder/defender Vanessa Kovacs (North Delta, B.C.), midfielder Alessandra Oliverio (Calgary, Alta.), forward Sarah-Kim Bergeron (Calgary, Alta.), defenders Melissa Demeda (Surrey, B.C.) and Jolayne Whitmarsh (Langley, B.C.) and Santaga.

About Spartan Athletics
Since Trinity Western entered the CIS in 1999, Spartan student-athletes have accumulated a number of significant awards including a CIS Athlete of the Year (BLG) award, four CIS Player of the Year awards, a CIS Elite Eight Academic All-Canadian award, three CIS Rookie of the Year awards, a CIS Libero of the Year award, three CIS community service awards and numerous CIS All-Canadian and Canada West All-Star awards. In twelve years as members of the CIS, the Spartans have won six national titles (women’s soccer in 2004, 2008, 2009 and men’s volleyball in 2006, 2011), 15 CIS championship medals, an individual CIS championship in track and seven Canada West championships.

About TWU
Trinity Western University, in Langley, BC, is a provincially chartered, independent Christian liberal arts, sciences, and professional studies university, enrolling approximately 4000 students. TWU offers 42 undergraduate majors, ranging from biotechnology, education, theatre and music, to psychology, communications and biblical studies. TWU's 16 graduate degree programs include nursing, counselling psychology, marriage and family therapy, business, theology, linguistics, and leadership, and interdisciplinary degrees in English, philosophy and history. TWU holds Canada Research Chairs in Dead Sea Scroll Studies, Developmental Genetics and Disease, and Interpretation, Religion & Culture.

About Canada West Universities Athletic Association
Canada West is consistently the most decorated of the four conferences in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), winning at least 10 CIS national titles every year, 1997 to 2010. Comprised of 14 schools, from the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, the CWUAA produces numerous major award winners and Academic All-Canadian student-athletes each year, with many going on to athletic success around the globe in pro leagues or events such as the Olympics, Paralympics or Universiade Games. “cwuaa” on Twitter.

About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty-one universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca.

-TW-

Last Updated: 2011-07-04
Author: Mark Janzen