Junior goalkeeper Bianca Henninger, a member of the 2010 U.S. U-20 Women's World Cup Team has been nominated for the U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year.

Henninger was awarded the prestigious Adidas Golden Glove earlier this season at the conclusion of the FIFA U20 Women's World Cup in Germany, honoring her as the best goalkeeper in the tournament. Henninger played for Team USA who was defeated by Nigeria in a shootout during the quarter finals on July 25.

The netminder also had an outstanding collegiate season in 2010. She was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Year - Second Team and made good on her WCC Preseason All-Conference team selection by being an All-WCC First Team selection at the end of the season.  Henninger led the WCC in overall saves (90) and save percentage (.865) and was the conference-only leader in saves (20) and co-leader in shutouts (3).  She finished the season with a 13-6-2 record, a WCC second-best eight shutouts, and a 0.67 goals-against-average.

Henninger was a critical component of the Santa Clara defense and single-handedly kept the Broncos in several games, including a 12-save performance against Long Beach State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament that tied a Santa Clara NCAA record set by Sue Wall at North Carolina in 1992.  She was also included on the all-tournament teams at the Notre Dame and Santa Clara tournaments.

Henninger was named to the 2010 MAC Hermann Award trophy watch list, given annually to the best collegiate women's soccer player. 

Henninger, along with excelling on the field, posted a 3.65 GPA in accounting through her first two years at Santa Clara and earned CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Second Team honors.

Vote for Henninger to be the U.S. Soccer Young Female Athlete of the Year by clicking: http://www.ussoccer.com/Best-of-Awards/2010-Athlete-of-the-Year/Young-Female-AOY.aspx