Chelsea happy with "unbelievable" season

Jeffersonville's Chelsea Grover and Western Kentucky University just missed out on an automatic bid into the NCAA Division I soccer tournament at the weekend following a 2-0 loss to Denver in the final of the 2008 Sun Belt Conference.

The Lady Toppers (15-2-4) advanced to their first championship match in their history after victories over Florida International and North Texas.


Despite a good first half defensive effort by WKU in the deciding game, Denver broke through in the second half with goals from Taryn Hemmings and Brook Lamphere in the 58th and 68th minutes.

Sophomore Grover, a defender who played in all 21 games, said it was "awesome" to be part of the first Lady Toppers team to make it to the SBC Championship game.

"It was disappointing to lose because everyone wanted so badly to win, but our coaches are still very proud of us on our unbelievable season," said the Jeff High School graduate. "We all can't wait until next season for another shot at the title."

She said she was "extremely happy" to play in every game -- and even got to play in goal for a couple of minutes against Morehead State.

"I am now a retired goalie as I broke my finger in practice," she joked. "Morehead didn't take any shots on me so I didn't have to work too hard back there, but it is pretty cool to say that I have played goalie in a collegiate game."