News Releases

Owens Community College Express Women’s Soccer Opens Season Against Cincinnati State, Aug. 25

PERRYSBURG TOWNSHIP, Ohio – Owens Community College women’s soccer will make its 2012 season debut as the Express hosts Cincinnati State Technical and Community College on Saturday, Aug. 25. The season opener will start at 3 p.m.

All home matches are played at the College’s Soccer Field on the Toledo-area Campus. Owens is located on Oregon Road in Perrysburg Township. Admission to all home matches is free.

“Our team is really looking forward to the start of the regular season,” said Mary Whisler, Owens Head Coach of the women’s soccer program. “We had a very successful season last year as a new Owens intercollegiate athletic program. I really believe we can build on that success. We have a very talented incoming class of freshmen to complement our veteran returners. I expect our team to be in the hunt for a regional title and much more.”

The 2011 season marked the first as an intercollegiate program for Owens women’s soccer. The Express finished with a 12-8 overall record and in fourth place (5-5 record) in the NJCAA Region XII women’s soccer regular season standings. Owens lost to Schoolcraft College in the semifinals of the NJCAA Region XII Championships.

Owens has five student-athletes returning from last year’s team. Among the second-year players on Whisler’s squad are Kendra Eitniear of Swanton (Swanton H.S.) and Haley Gasser of Sylvania (Sylvania Northview H.S.). In 2011, Eitniear earned NJCAA All-Region XII Second Team honors. The sophomore forward totaled 21 goals and eight assists. Gasser is a sophomore midfielder and was named the team’s Coaches Award recipient. She recorded seven goals and led the team with 15 assists.

Also returning to the Express program are Sarah Weaver of Castalia (Margaretta H.S.), Jaime Sesock of Davisburg, Mich. (Holly H.S.) and Kristina-Marie Rutherford of Norton (Norton H.S.). Last year, Weaver, a sophomore forward/midfielder, recorded three goals and six assists. Sesock is a sophomore midfielder for the Express and totaled four goals and four assists. Rutherford, a sophomore defender/sweeper, tallied three goals and six assists for women’s soccer during the 2011 season.

First-year players to the Express women’s soccer program are Tayler Redinger of Fremont, goalkeeper (Fremont Ross H.S.); Erika Brinkman of Cloverdale, goalkeeper (Kalida H.S.); Jill Burkholder of Bryan, midfield (Bryan H.S.); Tara Preble of Millbury, defense (Lake H.S.); Haley Kreger of Temperance, Mich., midfield (Bedford H.S.); Taylor Avers of Gibsonburg, forward (Woodmore H.S.); Marissa Ramirez of Northwood, defense (Northwood H.S.); Samantha Starkey of Bowling Green, midfield/defense (Eastwood H.S.); Melanie Gregory of Northwood, defense (Genoa H.S.); Elizabeth Theaker of Maumee, defense (Maumee H.S.); Drew Plummer of Walbridge, forward (Lake H.S.), and Jessica Grindle of Northwood, forward/midfield (Northwood H.S.).

Owens Community College is an accredited two-year, state-assisted institution of higher education that has served Northwest Ohio since 1965. With a commitment to providing small classes, personal attention and unmatched affordability, the College serves the diverse academic needs of credit and non-credit students on the Toledo-area and Findlay-area campuses, as well as at the Arrowhead Park Learning Center in Maumee and the Learning Center at The Source in downtown Toledo. Owens offers associate degrees that transfer to baccalaureate degrees in the Arts and Sciences and over 130 technical program areas in Agriculture, Business, Health Sciences, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, Skilled Trades, and Engineering and Transportation Technologies. Owens students also can earn the first two years of a bachelor’s degree with a smooth transfer to any area four-year college or university. For more information, visit www.owens.edu.