APSU Sports: Austin Peay Soccer
Clarksville, TN – Austin Peay State University junior soccer standouts Tatiana Ariza and Natalia Ariza will wrap up finals and immediately head to Bogota, Colombia, this weekend to begin tryouts for the women’s soccer team that will represent Colombia in the 2012 Olympics in London.
The Ariza twins, who are from Bogota, were invited a year ago to tryout for the Colombian FIFA World Cup team, with Tatiana surviving the final cut but not getting an opportunity to compete last summer in Germany.
“This opportunity is very special for Natalia and Tatiana,” APSU coach Kelly Guth said. “Both of these young ladies have been actively involved with the National Team program in Colombia for multiple events. When they came to APSU from the World Cup U20’s in Germany in 2010, they made an immediate impact on our team and led our team to our best season in program history. Once again, they will have an opportunity this summer to represent their country in the Olympics. We are very excited about this possibility for the twins.”
A forward, Tatiana Ariza led the OVC in scoring in 2011 with 16 goals and seven assists for a total of 39 points. She was voted first-team All-OVC for a second straight season. She also was OVC Freshman of the Year in 2010.
A midfielder who also played defender in 2011, Natalia Ariza was third on the Lady Govs in scoring with five goals and four assists for 14 points. She was second-team All-OVC in 2011 after earning first-team as a freshman.
“Tatiana and Natalia have made such an incredible impact here at Austin Peay in the past two seasons and we are excited about the fall and future years,” Guth said. “Their experience playing at the highest level has helped our program in many ways. Obviously they are talented players and they make our team stronger, but we also see other players respond in training/competition—their teammates have elevated their game because the Arizas challenge them and it has brought out the best in other players on the team.
“Both are very unselfish, team-oriented players and they have really become invested in our program at APSU. We are extremely excited about what this tremendous experience this summer will provide for them as far as playing experience, motivation and additional preparation for our upcoming fall season.”
The women’s tournament will run from July 25th-August 9th in London along with five other United Kingdom cities—Glasgow, Newcastle, Cardiff, Coventry and Manchester. Colombia is in same group (G) with the U.S., France and North Korea. Columbia is scheduled to play the U.S., July, 28th, in Glasgow.
