Columbia College goalkeeper Steve Williams named top player in the AMC

Columbia, Mo. – Steve Williams, a senior goalkeeper for the Columbia College Cougars, has been named the American Midwest Conference (AMC) Most Valuable Player for his efforts during the 2004 season. Williams, who is a native of Pacific, Mo., logged 1,354 minutes in goal for the Cougars, playing in 16 games. He helped the Cougars tally a 14-3-1 record during the regular season, including a 6-0-1 record in conference play. Williams allowed just 12 goals and posted six shutouts, helping the Cougars to their second straight AMC title.

The AMC Freshman of the Year honor is handed out to the top rookie in the league. The 2004 honor is shared by Antonio Urdin-Gonzalez from William Woods University and Jarred Johnson from William Woods University. Urdin-Gonzalez appeared in 16 games for the Owls in 2004, delivering 11 goals and passing out six assists. The freshman forward is a native of Madrid, Spain.

Like Urdin-Gonzalez, Johnson also played forward for his respective squad. The Hannibal, Mo. native led the Trojans from Hannibal-LaGrange in scoring, netting nine goals during the regular season, including four in AMC action. Johnson also totaled three assists.

The Newcomer of the Year honor is bestowed upon the top transfer student in the AMC, as voted on by league coaches. For the second consecutive season, the award winner is a member of the University of Illinois-Springfield squad. Michael Hutchinson, a junior midfielder from the University of Illinois at Springfield is the 2004 recipient of the award. Hutchinson, who hails from Rochester, Ill., notched six goals and four assists during his first campaign with the Prairie Stars.

For the second time in two years and the third time in his five-year stint at Columbia College, John Klein is the AMC Coach of the Year, based on a vote by his league coaching peers. Klein led the Cougars their fourth AMC regular season title in five years, finishing with a conference mark of 6-0-1 and an overall record of 14-3-1. The Cougars received an automatic bid to the NAIA Region V tournament, which is set to begin next week.

The Fair Play & Sportsmanship Award is annually presented to one AMC men’s soccer squad based on two areas of sportsmanship. First, teams are awarded points based on their total number of red and yellow cards accumulated throughout the regular season. Second, AMC coaches vote on the squads, ranking their level of sportsmanship during their respective contests. The 2004 recipient of the Fair Play Award is Williams Baptist College.

A complete list of the 15-member first team, honorable mention squad and the academic all-conference team, is listed below. Members of the academic all-conference team have earned at least a 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.

Columbia College
Matt Mueller, Nano Recondo, Vladimir Roganovic, Mark Willcox

Hannibal-LaGrange College
Matt Gordon, Josh Kerr, Patrick Kohm, Austin McDowell, Beau Willet 

Harris-Stowe State College
Gonzalo Alonso, Moustapha Fall, Samir Suljic, Agustin Villegas 

University of Illinois at Springfield
Andreas Barcenas, Michael Hutchinson, Kenny Jackson, Mauricio Lora, Curt Miller, John Petri, John Ryan, Andy Simmons

McKendree College
Nathan Doherty, Steve DeMoulin, Scott Kutscher, Nicolas Mosca, Rick Niedringhaus, Tim Steeg

Missouri Baptist University
David Barnett, William Kamau, Michael Keane, Kevin Kiboro, Josh Lydon, Lawrence Olum, Ricky Todd

William Woods University
Matthew Bruno, Jaime Davies, Kevin Julian, John Hayes, Charlie Henshaw, Antonio Povedo-Lopez, Phil Stubley

 Williams Baptist College
Ambex Bantu, Nishav Mainali, Jaime Waddell, Travis Walvoord

2004 Fair Play & Sportsmanship Award - Williams Baptist College