Six Cougars from this year’s 21-2 team have been named to the 2006 NAIA All-America team, including 3 first-teamers. Four-year seniors Julie Fletcher and Jolie Nitta head a long list of Cougar All-Americans, earning first team recognition along with freshman Theresa Broad. Jill Colfer was a second-team selection and third-team honorees went to Randie Massro and Bridget Brotherton.
“I’m not surprised by the number of our players on the All-American team,” said Cougar coach Jason Surrell, the 2006 Golden State Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. “This was a special group that came together as the season went along and as a result enjoyed great success. We were strong across the board in several areas of the game, and I think that is reflected on the All-America teams.”
Fletcher spearheaded one of the top defenses in the nation and as a result was the Golden State Athletic Conference Player of Year from her defender’s position. She started the Cougars’ first 21 games but missed the national semifinals and championship game after suffering knee and ankle injuries in the NAIA quarterfinal game vs. Westmont. Nonetheless, with Fletcher in the line-up, Azusa Pacific surrendered just 8 goals and produced 13 shutouts, including 5 straight in GSAC play and in 8 of 9 games down the stretch.
Though just 5-foot-2, Nitta was a force in the Cougar midfield and emerged as one of the best at controlling play and engineering an offensive attack. She tallied 26 points on the season, third best on the team with 9 goals and a team-high 8 assists. She scored the game-winning goal, a golden one at that, in Azusa Pacific’s 3-2 victory over nationally-ranked Lee.
A high school player of the year as a defender, Broad made the transition to collegiate forward look easy, tallying a school freshman record 24 goals (just 2 shy of the overall single-season school record) and a GSAC-leading 56 points to earn her place among the first-team honorees. Broad was 1 of only 2 freshmen on the first team. She paced an offense that tallied 67 goals on the season and averaged 3.9 goals over the final 9 games heading into the NAIA Tournament.
Colfer is the only repeat honoree, duplicating her second team selection of last year. The junior out of Sacramento registered a microscopic 0.43 goals against average on the strength of 13 shutouts, just 2 shy of the school season record. Late in the season, she went 561 minutes without allowing a goal, and even then the only goal she allowed over the course of 9 games came off a penalty kick.
Fellow junior Massro was the enforcer of the Cougar midfield, providing a physical presence that knock opposing teams off their game plan. She recorded 14 points on the strength of 4 goals and 6 assists, but was more critical in setting up the Cougar attack by controlling play in the air.
Brotherton, a sophomore who started all 23 games, enjoyed a breakout season in which she tallied 15 goals and 37 points, teaming with Broad to give Azusa Pacific a lethal one-two punch up front. She scored both goals in the Cougars’ 2-0 win over No. 9-ranked Carroll, the first of 3 multi-goal games for her on the season.
The 6 Cougars on the All-America teams marks the most ever by an Azusa Pacific team. The 1998 national championship squad had 5 All-Americans.
