RICHMOND, VA – (Friday, July 27, 2007) – The Richmond Kickers Destiny are pleased to announce that defender Jaclyn Raveia and forward Jen Parsons earned USL W-League All-Central Conference honors.
Raveia, a native of Fairfax, VA, spent her third season with the Destiny as a player/coach. A graduate of the University of Richmond, Raveia made nine appearances with the Destiny this season for 810 minutes and was named to the W-League Team of the Week on May 17th for leading the Destiny to a 2-0 season opening win in Hampton Roads. A defensive stalwart, Raveia led the Destiny to an unbeaten record at home this season, shutting out the opposition on five occasions during the 2007 campaign. Prior to her stint with the Destiny, Raveia spent three years in WUSA between the Carolina Courage and New York Power.
A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, Parsons catapulted the Destiny to the playoffs this season, tallying 11 goals and three assists in 11 games played. Finishing fifth in the W-League in points and third in goals scored, Parsons garnered W-League Team of the Week honors for netting a goal over the Hampton Roads Piranhas on May 17th, one of five game-winning goals this season. A member of the Destiny since its 2004 inception, Parsons has led the squad in scoring for four consecutive seasons.
The Destiny secured a playoff berth for the second time in franchise history, representing the Atlantic Division in the Central Conference Playoffs this weekend, July 27th-28th. The Destiny concluded their fourth season, under the guidance of Head Coach Jesse Myers, with a record of 9-2-1 and 28 points. Although tied for top seed in the division with the Atlanta Silverbacks with identical records, the Silverbacks won the regular season division title on a head-to-head tiebreaker. The Silverbacks were the only team to overcome the Destiny with Richmond suffering both regular season losses to Atlanta.
The top two teams from each of the two divisions in the Central Conference compete in postseason play at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN. The Destiny face the host team, Minnesota Lightning of the Midwest Division, tonight, July 27th in the semifinal round. The winner of tonight’s semifinal will advance to the Conference Final tomorrow, Saturday, July 28th to face the winner of the Michigan Hawks versus Atlanta Silverbacks semifinal. The winners of the Central, Eastern and Western Conference playoffs will then travel to Rochester, NY for the W-League Championship tournament the following weekend with the W-League Championship to be televised LIVE on Fox Soccer Channel on August 5th.
The USL W-League provides the most complete women’s player pool in the world and is recognized as North America’s best women’s developmental organization, giving the nation’s best college players the opportunity to play alongside established international players while maintaining their collegiate eligibility.
