The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference

NORTON, MA- Wheaton College women's soccer senior Jenna Stiegler (Madison, WI/Middleton) has been selected to compete on a team that will represent the United States at the 11th Pan American Maccabi Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, beginning in late December.

Stiegler will play on a 16-player Open team comprised mainly of women between the ages of 18 and 34 when the Pan American Maccabi Games begin on December 27, after the opening ceremony takes place the night before. The closing ceremony will occur on January 1, 2008, and events draw to a finish the following day.

A two-time New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) All-Conference selection and a 2006 New England Women's Intercollegiate Soccer Association (NEWISA) All-New England pick, Stiegler appeared in 93 of a possible 99 games during her four years in the Lyon backfield. Six of her nine career goals stood up as game-winners, and Stiegler made 14 starts and 19 appearances as Wheaton went 22-1-1 this fall. The Lyons advanced to their eighth straight NCAA Tournament, won their seventh NEWMAC Tournament crown and captured their ninth consecutive regular season league title.

Stiegler is one of four players on her Maccabi Games team with ties to New England colleges, as the squad is represented by current or former members of programs at Boston College, Boston University and Brandeis University. Stiegler joins teammates from Brandeis and Albion College in Michigan as representatives of Division III institutions.

The United States is the defending Pan American Maccabi Games champion, having racked up 212 medals at the last Games, which ended in early January 2004. Phyllis Magerman, the general chair of the United States' 11th Pan American Maccabi Games Organizing Committee, said Maccabi USA/Sports for Israel will send a contingent of more than 600 to this year's Games in the Open, Youth, Juniors and Masters categories, joining an estimated 3,000 athletes from more than 20 countries.

Since 1948, Maccabi USA/Sports for Israel has sought to enrich the lives of Jewish youth in the United States, Israel and throughout the Diaspora through athletic, cultural and educational programs. The organization sponsors the U.S. team at the World Maccabiah Games in Israel, the world's third-largest international sporting event. It also sponsors U.S. participation in Maccabi competitions in Pan America, Europe and Australia and supports Jewish youth through the JCC Maccabi Games.

Wheaton's Stiegler Selected to Compete at Pan American Maccabi Games