Ali Leak Named Toledo Athlete of Week
11/6/2006 12:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Nov. 6, 2006
TOLEDO, OH - Freshman Ali Leak helped the Rockets capture their first MAC Tournament title in program history with a goal and two assists last weekend in Toledo's wins over Miami and Northern Illinois.
Leak's goal against the RedHawks came with 13 seconds left in the first overtime she made a run down the left side of the field and junior Suzi Siwinski played a long ball into that space to Leak. She quickly noticed the Miami goalkeeper, Krista Pace, had come off her goalline, and the Pickerington, OH native flicked a low shot that eluded Pace and sent the Toledo bench into a frenzy.
Leak then assisted on both goals in the Rockets' 2-1 win over NIU in the championship match. Toledo struck first blood at 41:20 on a beautifully executed cross and finish from Leak to freshman Molly Cornwell. Leak made a nice move in the corner to beat the NIU defender and crossed the ball to Cornwell, who promptly one-timed it into the back of the net for her team-best sixth tally of the season.
Leak then assisted on senior Ashley Gerwin's second goal of the season at the 47:56 mark. She had the ball down the right side and played it into the middle of the NIU goal box to Gerwin, who despite being in traffic, was able to get a foot on it and direct it into the back of the net for the eventual game winner.
Toledo (9-8-4) will travel to State College, PA to face Villanova in a NCAA Tournament first-round match on Friday, Nov. 10 at 7:30 p.m. The UT-VU winner will play the winner of Friday's other match, pitting Niagara (12-6-1) against host Penn State (15-4-2). Both matches will be held at PSU's Jeffrey Field (3,500). The Nittany Lions are the No. 2 seed in the Rockets' bracket.
