BATON ROUGE — Sophomore goalkeeper Bonnie Otillio was named the LSU women’s soccer team’s Most Valuable Player at the 2000 Soccer Award banquet held in the LSU athletic department.
Otillio was solid for the Tigers in the goal, leading them to eight of the school record 10 shutouts.
She started in 18 games in goal for the Tigers and tallied 86 saves, only allowing 18 goals the entire season. She now holds the record for most shutouts in a season and career.
Freshman Abby Atwell was honored as the Defensive MVP on the Tiger squad. Atwell started in all 21 of the Tigers’ games in 2000 and made a tremendous difference in LSU’s defensive game.
Each game she matched the opponents best forward to keep the scoring to a minimum. Atwell also scored one goal and was credited with one assist for the season.
After leading the Tiger offence with 15 goals for the season, Kara Dean was given the title of the Tigers’ Offensive MVP. Dean led the team with 32 points and had two assists. She tallied three goals against Louisiana-Monroe on August 27, 2000. Dean was named the Louisiana Collegiate Player of the Year by the Louisiana Sports Writer’s Association.
Soccer newcomer and track All-American Somalia Lindsay was honored with the Coach’s Award. This award was given to the most “teachable” athlete who worked hard to improve and followed instructions well. Lindsay scored three goals for the Tigers, totaling six points.
Sophomore Leigh McGovern was named the Soccer Academic Player of the Year for maintaining a 3.7 grade point average. This award was given for the player who works hard on and off the field and knows the meaning of the term student-athlete. McGovern played a major role in the Tigers’ defense.
Freshman Rachel Cohen tallied seven goals and six assists to place third on the team with 20 points. For her excellent efforts, Cohen was named the Tigers’ Freshman of the Year. Cohen also scored one game-winning goal against Alabama A&M.
The 2000 Women’s Soccer team was named NCAA Division I most-improved team after making a 10-game turnaround. LSU finished the season with a record of 15-6 overall and 5-4 in the Southeastern Conference.
The 2001 soccer season kicks off on August 31 with a home game against McNeese State at 7 p.m. in the LSU Soccer Complex.