Admit it, the first time you heard the girlfriend of history’s greatest Olympian attended Lyon College, your first reaction was “What?!” Then, if you are me, you learned the Cali native attended the north Arkansas school to play soccer, and you immediately craved a statistical assessment of her effectiveness as a player.
It’s one thing, after all, to be a fashion model traipsing around Nebraska, Hollywood and London, keeping a relationship with a greatest Olympian of all time under wraps for seven months before declaring your love after the gold dust clears with pictorial Tweet-testaments of love with that same greatest Olympian ever – all the while keeping the gears turning for a possible acting career on the side.
It’s quite another to dominate the TransSouth Athletic Conference of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.
So, how did Megan Rossee stack up as a student-athlete?
Pretty well, it turns out. After transferring from Long Beach City College, she was a major contributor to what with a little imagination can be construed as the “Golden Age” of Lyon’s nine-year soccer history. Rossee played from 2007 through 2009, a stint including two of the top three seasons in program history:
http://www.lyonscots.com/stats/2007-08/wSoccer/2007stats.htm
Year Overall (record) Conference
2003 2-14 2-4
2004 3-12 2-5
2005 3-14 2-4
2006 13-6 6-2
2007 9-8-1 4-4
2008 12-5-2 4-1-1
2009 10-2-2 3-1-2
2010 12-4-1 4-1-1
2011 10-9 3-3
Rossee only started four of 17 games her first season, scoring a goal and an assist, but by 2008 was firmly entrenched at defender, starting all 19 games. In 2009, the 5-feet-9 Lakewood, Cal. native went out with a bang – scoring two goals on the year. Defensive stats aren’t readily available, but one can imagine Rossee was a pretty good complement to a forward who pretty much became the Michelle Phelps of Lyon College soccer. Angja Klotzle is the school’s all-time leader in goals (51) and assists (33).
Throughout the Rossee era, the Scots lost to the likes of Arkansas State, UCA and Harding University, but sure did beat the living kilt out of Central Baptist College and the University of the Ozarks. This kilted Army, however, never conquered beyond its conference tournament semi-finals.
On Twitter, Rossee has been talking up the possibility of heading back to Batesville soon. If so, expect her to walk through the doors of Cowboy’s Barbecue and – if a certain someone’s at her side – make quite a splash in the process.
Below are Lyon soccer career record holders. I vote “Creeia” as having the coolest name:
1. Anja Klotzle 51 2008-11
2. Sarah Ruegger 40 2006-08
3. Katy Smith 30 2006-10
4. Katie Marshall 19 2009-10
5t. Angelique Armenta 18 2006-07
5t. Jordan Kalie Aliviado 18 2008-11
7. Creeia Nuckols 13 2010-Present
8. Cethlinn Cunningham 12 2007-11
9. Sarah Poncher 11 2006
10. Amber Mathieson 10 2007-10
Player Assists Lyon Career
1. Anja Klotzle 33 2008-11
2. Katy Smith 25 2006-10
3t. Marisa Browne 17 2007-10
3t. Sarah Ruegger 17 2006-08
5. Angelique Armenta 14 2006-07
6. Katie Marshall 13 2009-10
7. Kristin Maas 11 2007-10
