Taylor Stevenson '10 is 2nd-Team All-NESCAC for 2nd Year, Joined by Laura Kurash '13, Who's Also ROY

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Helping to carry the Cardinals to their second straight winning season and more NESCAC wins than any previous women's soccer squad, Taylor Stevenson '10 (#6, right in photo) and Laura Kurash '13 (#8, left in photo) both received second-team all-NESCAC accolades in 2009. In addition, Kurash, who led the team in scoring despite missing half the season due to injury, was named the NESCAC Rookie of the Year.

Kurash racked up a single-game school-record four goals and two assists for 10 points in Wesleyan's 7-0 victory over Smith during the team's second game before being injured in the third game vs. Colby. She returned to the lineup with a vengeance, scoring the game-winning goal and adding an assist in a 2-1 overtime victory vs. Bates. Playing in only seven of the Cardinals' 15 games, Kurash came through with six goals and three assists for 15 points. She also had the game-winner in a 3-0 triumph at Conn. College.

Stevenson has been a starter in the midfield from the minute she put on a Wesleyan uniform, playing and starting each game during the team's 8-6-1 campaign in 2009. She contributed two assists to the offense while also supporting a defense that established a school record for shutouts in a season with seven. The team's 0.98 goals-against average in 2009 is the second-lowest in program history, bettered only by the 1994 squad that posted the best record in school history (12-4-1) with a 0.85 goals-against average. In addition to her NESCAC honor, Stevenson made the fourth team of the NSCAA New England Division III all-region squad.

Over her four years, Stevenson played in 54 of a possible 57 games with 53 starts, scoring one goal along with seven assists for nine career points.

Wesleyan came up with four NESCAC victories to secure the No. 7 seed in the NESCAC tournament as the Cardinals qualified for only the second time. The team ventured to second-seeded and NCAA tournament qualifier Amherst for its first-round NESCAC contest, falling in overtime, 2-1. Four of the Cardinals' six losses in 2009 came against teams that earned NCAA playoff berths, two of those by a lone goal. Wesleyan also came up with a 1-1 tie vs. NCAA qualifier Eastern Connecticut, further demonstrating Wesleyan's competitive nature this season.