Nov. 1, 2012

BERKELEY - Golden Bear sophomore midfielder Lara Kruggel won this year's offensive player of the year award for the NorPac West Conference at the NorPac Tournament banquet, held Wednesday night in Farmville, Va. Kruggel was one of three Bears named to the All-Conference team.

In addition to Kruggel, Cal had two other players make the All-Conference team. Senior defender Deanna Kennedy and junior midfielder Shannon Elmitt both earned the honor. Junior forward Jordan O'Reilly was named to the conference All-Academic team.

Kruggel scored 15 goals and earned another six assists on the season to become the top point earner in the NorPac for the 2012 season. Her accomplishments this year were no surprise, as last year, in her freshman campaign, Kruggel was named the conference rookie of the year and also made the all-conference team. She was far and away the top offensive weapon for Cal this year. She finished the regular season first in the NorPac with .88 goals per game (13th nationally), first with 2.12 points per game (14th nationally), and is tied for first with 36 total points. Her 15 goals tie her for 7th on Cal's all-time single season record list, and her 23 career goals are just one short of cracking Cal's top ten list. Kruggel was named NorPac West Offensive Player of the Week twice this season.

This is Kruggel's first time being named Offensive Player of the year and her second time making the All-Conference team. Kruggel is the sixth Cal player to win the honors. Last year, Andrea Earle brought home the award.

Elmitt was Cal's co-captain and leading assist earner this year. This is her second time winning All-Conference honors. The seven assists tied her for third in the conference. She doesn't have many scoring opportunities, taking just 18 shots this season, but the midfielder is all over the ball. If tackles were stats that were tabulated, Elmitt would be among the elite in this conference. She now has 25 career assists to place her at number seven in the Cal record book.

Kennedy was named to the All-Conference team for the second time after previously earning the honors during her freshman campaign. She was a key cog all season for Cal's defense. After leading the Bears in assists her first three seasons, she earned four this year to give her 37 for her career, making her Cal's all-time leader in assists.

O'Reilly earned her first All-Academic honors this season. Though the award is given for achievements in the classroom, O'Reilly has also excelled on the pitch, scoring six goals on just thirteen shots this season and was named NorPac Offensive Player of the Week once.

The Bears open the NorPac Tournament against Longwood at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 1. The winner of the game will play the victor of the the Stanford vs. Radford game on Friday. The tournament final will be played Saturday at 10:30 a.m. and the victor will be the conference's automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament.

NorPac West All-Conference: Lara Kruggel, MF, California, Becky Dru, D, Stanford, Kelsey Harbin, D, Stanford, Emily Tregoning, MF, Pacific, Alex McCawley, MF, Stanford, Deanna Kennedy, D, California, Casey Wollbrinck, D, UC Davis, Maddie Secco, MF, Stanford, Shannon Elmitt, MF, California, Hope Burke, F, Stanford, Dulcie Davies, GK, Stanford

Player of the Year: Becky Dru, D, Stanford

Offensive Player of the Year: Lara Kruggel, MF, California

Defensive Player of the Year: Kelsey Harbin, D, Stanford

Maria Whitehead Rookie of the Year: Sarah Gipe, F, Liberty

Coach of the Year: Jodi Murphy, Liberty, Tara Danielson, Stanford

Sheryl Johnson Academic Excellence Award: Emily Trudeau, Sr., Pacific

Julie Nagel Extraordinary Teammate Award: Dana Wetmore, Appalachian State