Otahkians grab major awards at OVC banquet

As befitting a team that went through the Ohio Valley Conference without a loss, Southeast Missouri State University's Otahkians garnered three of the league's four major individual honors that were announced during the conference's awards banquet Thursday night at the Show Me Center.

On the eve of this weekend's OVC Tournament at Houck Stadium, Southeast's Heather Nelson was named Coach of the Year, senior goalkeeper Beth Guccione was named Player of the Year and junior Jenny Hamilton nabbed Defender of the Year honors.

In addition, Otahkian freshmen Erin Slattery and Marla Gianino joined Guccione and Hamilton on the all-OVC first team. Voting was done by the league's head coaches.

"It's a great honor for all the players," said Nelson.

In just their third year of play, the Otahkians are 15-1 and did not allow a conference opponent a goal while winning their first OVC regular-season championship with a 5-0 record.

Nelson, who began the Southeast program from scratch in 1999, said her second OVC Coach of the Year award in three years is a reflection of how well the team performed this season.

"They put me in this position and it goes out to them," said Nelson, who also earned Coach of the Year honors in the program's inaugural season. "To be undefeated and unscored on in the conference says a lot.

"I'm very proud of everything that has happened this year. It's a good feeling to see how far the program has come."

Guccione has recorded 12 shutouts in 16 games and she ranks fourth nationally in goals-allowed average (0.44). A first-team all-OVC selection in 1999 before being sidelined last year with a shoulder injury, Guccione became the first non-Eastern Illinois player to earn Player of the Year honors in the league's four-year history.

"We were delighted about that," said Nelson of Guccione's award. "I knew it would be a real battle between her and Beth Liesen (the OVC scoring leader from Eastern Illinois).

"A lot of times goal scorers get recognized more than defensive players and for Beth to get it is a real tribute."

Hamilton, who was first-team all-OVC in 1999 and made the second team last year, spearheads a rugged Southeast defense that ranks third nationally in goals-allowed average. She is the first non-Tennessee Tech player to pick up the Defender of the Year award in conference history.

"That's a huge honor," Nelson said. "Jenny has been so steady. She does everything. She's a great one-on-one defender and she's very skilled."

Slattery and Gianino, despite being first-year college players, were among the leaders of Southeast's much-improved offense this season.

Slattery leads the Otahkians and ranks second in the OVC in goals with 10. She is also third in the league in scoring with 24 points. Gianino leads Southeast and is second in the OVC in scoring with 25 points, on eight goals and nine assists, the latter figure a school single-season record. She is second in the OVC in assists.

"They were both candidates for (OVC) Freshman of the Year and they've really done a great job," said Nelson.

Southeast senior forward Nichole Thiele made the all-conference second team after earning first-team honors in both 1999 and 2000. Thiele is fifth in the OVC in scoring with 20 points, which includes nine goals to rank third in the league.

Another Otahkian, sophomore forward Erika Todd, earned honorable-mention honors after making the first team last year. She is eighth in the conference in scoring with 18 points on six goals and six assists.

While Southeast filled four of the 11 all-OVC first-team slots, league runner-up Eastern Illinois had three selections, followed by third-place Tennessee Tech and fourth-place Murray State with two each.

Among the Eastern Illinois selections is Liesen, a sophomore forward who is by far the OVC's leading scorer with 39 points, which includes a league-high 17 goals.

Highlighting the Tennessee Tech picks is OVC Freshman of the Year Robyn Vince, the Eaglettes' leading scorer with 26 points, which ranks fourth in the league.

The complete all-OVC teams can be found in Scoreboard on Page 4B.