April 24, 2008

LAKE CHARLES-- McNeese State's women's soccer player Kamryn Koch will be presented with the 2007 Kelly Mortgage Golden Ball award at halftime of tonight's Spring football game.

The Kelly Mortgage Golden Ball award is presented each year to the top offensive player amongst Louisiana's eleven NCAA Division 1 women's soccer teams. The winner of the award is determined by using the points per game average that combines goals and assists. One point is awarded for each goal and one point is awarded for each assist the player earns throughout the season. Koch scored 16 goals and .95 points per game.

The trophy is a traveling award that is held by the recipient until a new winner is announced. Koch's name will be engraved on the trophy as the 2007 recipient.

"I am very honored to receive this award from Jason Kelly and Kelly Mortgage. The fact that it is based on my statistics makes it more exciting because it lets my play speak for itself. This, along with my accomplishments from the season, is very humbling. They make me realize what got me here...a lot of hard work. I know I have to maintain and increase my personal standards to stay on top," said Koch.

Koch ranked amongst the nations best in NCAA Division I Women's Soccer with top 20 rankings on the season for goals per game and points per game. She also led the Southland Conference in shots, shots per game, points, points per game, goals, goals per game, and game winning goals and helped the Cowgirls to its first regular season Southland Conference title and Southland Conference Tournament runners-up this season.

"We are extremely proud of our team accomplishments this year and very excited for Kamryn to receive this award. I can't think of a more deserving player. She works extremely hard every day to be the best. She has done a lot to distinguish herself as a top female athlete in Louisiana and the top student-athlete and one of the top soccer player in the Southland Conference. Kamryn represents the Cowgirl Way on the field and in the classroom," said head coach Scooter Savoie.

Koch is also one of three finalists for the Kelly Mortgage Louisiana Player of the Year award. This award is voted on by the state's collegiate head coaches. The winner will be announced live on www.totalsportsradio.com this Sunday, April 27, at 6:00 p.m. cst.

"We are thankful to Jason Kelly and Kelly Mortgage for making the time and effort to recognize Louisiana's top college female soccer players. Jason's work promoting and building up college soccer in Louisiana through his radio broadcasts and player awards is exciting for our student-athletes. His efforts go a long way to recognize these young ladies for the effort they put forth on a daily basis throughout the year to perform as high level athletes. We hope to see Jason back in Lake Charles in the near future to present Kamryn as the Player of the Year for Louisiana."

Koch has previously been recognized for her 2007 accomplishments as the Southland Conference's Student-Athlete of the Year and Louisiana Sports Writers Association Player of the Year. "I want to thank my family, my teammates, and my coaches for always supporting me. I could not do this without them and in all honesty I work as hard as I do to make McNeese Soccer the best program in the state."