March 26, 2007

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (BGSUFalcons.com) - Freshman Samantha Bland, sophomore Brianne Eisenhard and junior Danielle Cygan each earned most valuable player awards as the Bowling Green State University women's soccer team held its annual banquet on Saturday, March 17 at the Bowen-Thompson Student Union. Head coach Andy Richards guided the 2006 version of the Falcons to an overall record of 10-10-0.

Lindsay Carter, the Falcons' lone senior in 2006, earned both the "Hustle" award and the Leslie Dawley "Fighting Falcon" award, while sophomore Christy Zabek was named the Falcons' most improved player.

The "Fighting Falcon" award winner is selected by the BGSU coaching staff, while the other five awards are the result of voting by the team members.

Bland (Hilliard, Ohio/Darby H.S.) was named the Falcons' MVP on defense. In her first season in the Brown and Orange, she was named to the national All-Rookie Team by TopDrawerSoccer.com. Bland, named to the third team by that soccer web site, was the only Mid-American Conference player named to that squad.

Bland saw action in 16 of BGSU's 20 games, making 13 starts, and helped the Falcons posted a school-record 10 shutouts in 2006. At the other end of the field, Bland had three points on a goal and an assist. The goal was a last-minute game winner, as her header gave the Falcons a 1-0 home win over Eastern Michigan (Oct. 22). Her assist also came on a winning goal, in the second overtime of the Falcons' next game for a 1-0 victory over Toledo in the final regular-season match (Oct. 26).