NSU Horizons Winter 2008 - 2009

new-comers arriving, NSU will also depend on upperclass- man Alice Henley to guide the young Sharks to another regional appearance in 2008. Women’s Soccer— Reaching for New Heights After back-to-back third-place finishes in the Sunshine State Conference, the NSU women’s soccer team looked to reach new heights in 2008. This wasn’t an easy task since the squad already made consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in the last two seasons. For example, last season, the Sharks were one red card and one goal away from defeating the eventual NCAA Division II National Champion, the Tampa Spartans. With that in mind, the ingredients were in place for an ever bigger batch of wins this season. All discussions of the NSU women’s soccer team begin and end with All-Americans Stephanie Quinones and Shurell Burton. Quinones, a midfielder whose ball control, passing, and playmaking ability made her a prime recruit- ing target for numerous Division I teams, has co-captained the Sharks the past two seasons. In 2007, Burton set new NSU career records for goals scored and points. Together, these two make perhaps the most formidable offensive one-two punch in the South Region. The biggest question mark for NSU was on defense, as they lost co-captain defenders Jenny Turner and Jahmila Williams to graduation. This year’s recruiting class of seven included three defenders whom Head Coach Mike Goodrich hopes can fill the void left by Turner and Williams. The team concluded its season 8-5-3 after battling the injury bug all season. Quinones was named to the All-SSC second team and Academic All-District and joined Burton on the NSCAA/adidas All-South Region team. Men’s Soccer— Poised to Make a Run In 2007, the NSU men’s soccer team featured 17 newcomers and 15 freshmen. With that fact in mind, the squad had a success- ful season, ranking as high as second in the nation in Division II, and falling only in penalty kicks to perennial power Lynn University in the Sunshine State Conference tournament semifinals. Losing just one starter from one year ago, the 2008 version of the men’s soccer team was poised to make a run at an SSC cham- pionship. Returning to the pitch is SSC Player of the Year Romain Onteniente, along with All-South Region performers Aly Hassan and Craig Heenighan. Onteniente and Hassan formed the most dynamic duo of forwards in the SSC. Hassan made an appearance for the United States U-20 National Team in an exhibition against Guatemala over the summer, while Heenighan, the Sharks’s captain for the second straight year, continued to bring his leadership and two-way ability to the NSU midfield. The Sharks finished the season with a 10-9-1 record. Onteniente, who garnered his second straight First Team All-Sunshine State Conference nod, led the Sharks with 11 assists, which also tied him for second among the SSC’s overall leaders. He also scored nine goals, including two game-winners, and registered 29 points. He currently ranks fourth among NSU’s all-time career leaders in goals (32) and points (83) and is tied for 10th with Tony Yannnakakis in assists (19). n 41 horizons ROMAIN ONTENIENTE