Makarainen and Giardina Earn Academic All-District Honors
Makarainen collects All-District honors for third-straight year, Giardina collects honors for first time with third team selection
RINDGE, N.H. (November 16, 2006) - Two members of the Franklin Pierce women's soccer team earned ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District I honors as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Senior back Mia Makarainen (Espoo, Finland) earned first team honors for the second-straight year and Academic All-District honors for the third-straight year overall, while junior Jenna Giardina (Pittsfield, Mass./Taconic) is a first time honoree with her selection to the third team. With her first team selection, Makarainen is now eligible for Academic All-America honors.
Makarainen, now just the third three-time Academic All-District pick in program history, earns first team All-District honors for the second-straight year. She has earned a 3.88 cumulative grade point average while majoring in management at the College. Makarainen has earned NE-10 All-Academic first team honors three-straight years, is a three-time NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll Gold Scholar and is a Chi Alpha Sigma National Student-Athlete Honor Society member.
Makarainen is part of a Franklin Pierce defensive unit which ranks second in the Northeast-10 with a 0.76 team goals against average and nine shutouts. She has started six of the 12 matches she has played in during an injury-plagued final season.
Makarainen was a second team All-New England pick in 2004 and has earned All-Northeast-10 Conference honors as a sophomore and junior. She has played 77 of a possible 92 matches over her four-year career at the College and totaled six assists for six career points from the backline.
Giardina, who also earned NE-10 All-Academic honors for the first time this fall, has registered a 3.32 cumulative grade point average while majoring in business at the College. She ranks second in scoring with 21 points (9th NE-10) on seven goals and seven assists (7th), including two match-winning goals. Giardina, the NE-10 Player of the Week on October 10, earned second team All-Northeast-10 honors this fall.
Giardina has totaled eight goals and 14 assists for 30 points in 64 career matches over three seasons. She is also a member of the Franklin Pierce softball team, leading the Ravens in batting, runs scored and stolen bases last spring.
Franklin Pierce (18-3-1, 12-2-0 NE-10), ranked sixth in the final regular season National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/adidas Division II poll captured its record seventh-straight Northeast-10 Conference Tournament Championship and record 11th-straight New England Regional crown this fall. The Ravens recently saw their season come to a close in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament with a 2-1 setback at No. 2-ranked West Chester (Pa.) University last Saturday.