Nov. 9, 2006

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WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - OREGON senior forward Nicole Garbin was named Pac-10 Player of the Year, UCLA foward Lauren Cheney was named Freshman of the Year and Oregon's Tara Erickson was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year, Commissioner Tom Hansen announced today.

PAC-10 PLAYER OF THE YEAR -- NICOLE GARBIN, OREGON
Garbin, a sixth-year senior from Wailuku, Hawaii, made the most of her final go-around with the Ducks, leading them to second place in the Pac-10 with a 6-1-2 Conference record. The Ducks had never finished higher than seventh in the Conference until this season, and Garbin deserves much of the credit. She tallied nine game-winning goals on the season (first in the Pac-10) out of Oregon's school-record 12 wins overall, and ranked at or near the top of nearly every offensive category: second in points (25) second in points per game (1.25), second in goals (12) and first in shots (84). In the regular season's final weekend, Garbin scored the game-winning goals in Oregon's upset win over Pac-10 Champion UCLA, and against NCAA Tournament team USC for the school's first ever sweep of the Los Angeles schools. She leaves the Oregon program having set a new standard for excellence and owns a myriad of records including career goals (34), game-winning goals (22), career points (83) and shots (257). Garbin was named Pac-10 Player of the Week a Conference record three times this season, and is the ony player in Conference history to win the weekly award on four different occasions. She is the first Oregon player to ever be named Player of the Year.

PAC-10 FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR -- LAUREN CHENEY, UCLA
Cheney burst onto the scene after missing the season's first four games while playing for the US U-20 National Team. Despite playing only 16 games this season, Cheney led the Conference in scoring with 15 goals and 30 points. She finished the regular season ranked fourth in the nation in goals per game with 0.94. Cheney's shots per game average of 4.81 also led the Pac-10 and her seven game-winning goals was second-most. The high-powered Bruins led the Pac-10 in every offensive category, scoring 1.95 goals per match on their way to their fourth-straight Pac-10 title. Cheney becomes the first Bruin to win the award since Jessica Winton in 1999.

PAC-10 COACH OF THE YEAR -- TARA ERICKSON, OREGON
The Ducks had few believers at the start of the season, as they were picked to finish last in the preseason coaches poll. Yet they proved to be the great success story of the year, going 12-6-2 and 6-1-2 in the Pac-10 for a second-place finish. Oregon's overall and Conference win totals were both school records, and their runner-up showing was by far the best in program history, as no Oregon team had prevoiusly finished any higher than seventh. The Ducks handed Pac-10 Champion UCLA its only blemish with a 2-1 overtime win in the season's final weekend. Erickson also righted the ship after Oregon lost their first three matches and instead of succumbing to outsider expectations, the Ducks rallied to go 12-3-2 over the rest of the season. This is the first Coach of the Year award for Erickson, in just her second season at Oregon, and the first Coach of the Year award in Oregon history.

FIRST TEAM
	Name	Pos.	Year	School
	Danesha Adams*	F/MF	Jr.	UCLA
	Kim Bingham	GK	Sr.	Arizona State
	Rachel Buehler	D	Sr.	Stanford
	Lauren Cheney	F	Fr.	UCLA
	Gianna DeSaverio	F	So.	Arizona
	Christina DiMartino	F/MF	So.	UCLA
	Nicole Garbin	F	Sr.	Oregon
	Kelley O'Hara	F	Fr.	Stanford
	Shari Summers	MF	Sr.	Stanford
	Rosa Anna Tantillo**	MF	Sr.	USC
	Jodie Taylor**	F	Jr.	Oregon State
SECOND TEAM
	Name	Pos.	Year	School
	Nadia Al-Lami	MF	Sr.	California
	Dani Bridges	MF	Jr.	Washington
	Carly Dobratz	MF	Fr.	Washington State
	Allison Falk	D	So.	Stanford
	Valerie Henderson	GK	Jr.	UCLA
	Meagan Holmes	D	So.	USC
	Courtney Hooker	D	Jr.	California
	London King	F	So.	Arizona
	Caroline Lea	MF	Jr.	California
	Allison Scurich	D	Jr.	Washington State
	Kristin Stannard	MF	Fr.	Stanford
	Stacey Strong	MF	So.	USC
	*two-time All-Pac-10 honoree	**three-time All-Pac-10 honoree

HONORABLE MENTION
Marissa Abegg (STAN, So., D/MF); Brynn Bemis (WSU, Jr., GK); Claire Bodiya (ARIZ, Jr., D); Lauren Brown (USC, Jr., F); Bristyn Davis (UCLA, Sr., D/F); Erin Hardy (UCLA, So., D); Nkechi Kanu; Stacey Lindstrom (UCLA, Sr., MF); Nini Loucks (USC, So., F); Jenna Robison (WASH, So., MF); Danielle Sweeney (ORE, Fr., MF); Dylann Tharp (ORE, Jr., D).

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Name	Pos.	School
Jacqueline Broussard	MF	Arizona
Lauren Cheney	F	UCLA
Carly Dobratz	MF	Washington State
Alicia Jenkins	F	Stanford
Kristine Larson	MF	UCLA
Kelly Menachof	MF	California
Nikki Murray	D	Washington
Kelley O'Hara	F	Stanford
Ali Riley	F	Stanford
Kristin Stannard	MF	Stanford
Danielle Sweeney	MF	Oregon

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