Allegheny College Press Release - Allegheny senior defender Kira Kliment, who was the 2011 NCAC Defensive Player of the Year, capped an outstanding season and career by being named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/Continental Tire Division III Women’s All-America Team it was announced on Monday.
Kliment, who was also named First Team All-Region, served as the cornerstone for one of the nation’s most impressive defensive units. The starting center back from Roebling, N.J., helped guide the Gators to a program-record 14 shutouts. Allegheny finished the year ranked eighth in the NCAA in both shutout percentage (.737) and goals against average (.400), while Kliment started every game on the back line.
Kliment’s selection marks Allegheny’s 15th All-American in women’s soccer and first since Lauren Moser in 2003. The national honor punctuates a brilliant campaign for the three-year starter, who triggered the best statistical defense in the NCAC over the past two years,
In addition to Kliment, senior goal keeper Emily Karr was also named First Team All-Region. Karr pieced together the most dominating career for an Allegheny keeper, setting the program record for shutouts in a season three consecutive years en route to 43 clean sheets. Karr, who last season manufactured the seventh-longest shutout streak in Division III history (1,092 minutes), finished her career with the fourth-highest shutout total in the history of Division III soccer.
Senior Becca Crissman, an unheralded star who caught the attention of coaches around the league with her dictating play in the middle, was named Third Team All-Region to give the Gators at least three All-Region picks for the second year in a row.
In addition to the Gators’ individual accolades, Allegheny was among the 789 soccer teams that posted a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher, thereby earning the NSCAA Team Academic Award for the 2010-11 academic year. Of that total, Allegheny was one of 158 schools had both their men’s and women’s programs recognized.
