BATON ROUGE — The LSU soccer team officially celebrated its 2003 season as the coaching staff handed out its season awards and at its annual banquet held on the fifth floor of the Athletic Administration Building on Friday evening.
LSU’s co-head coaches George and Danielle Fotopoulos along with assistant coach Ricky Zambrano gave out seven different awards including Most Valuable Player, Student-Athlete of the Year, Golden Tiger Award, Offensive and Defensive MVP, Strength and Conditioning, and Freshman of the Year.
Rachel Cohen, a senior forward from Lafayette, La., was named the team’s MVP after starting 17 games for the Tigers in 2003 and notching five goals to go with four assists. Cohen saved the best for last as she recorded a hat trick in her final game as a Tiger in a 9-0 shutout of Southern on Nov. 2. Cohen was a three-time All-American as selected by the Jewish Sports Review in her career and was the Tigers’ Freshman of the Year in 2000. Cohen finished her career as the school’s all-time leader in assists with 21.
Robyn DesOrmeaux, a junior goalkeeper from Carencro, La., was named the Tigers’ Defensive MVP. She was the Tigers’ starter at the position for the second-straight season and posted six shutouts.
Junior forward Artie Brown, a native of Baton Rouge, had one of the single-best offensive seasons in school history and was named the Tigers’ Offensive MVP. She led the team lead with 13 goals and 29 points. Brown, a three-time All-Louisiana nominee, is currently second all-time in goals scored at LSU with 26. She finished the season tied for second in the Southeastern Conference in goals scored and was fifth in points. Brown was named to the SEC’s Good Works Team for her extensive volunteer work throughout the community.
Chelsea Agar was honored as the Student-Athlete of the Year. Agar, a defender, started all 20 games in 2003 and was one of only 33 student-athletes at LSU to earn a 4.0 gpa during the fall 2003 semester while majoring in biochemistry. Agar was named to the First-Team CoSIDA Academic All-District VI team. She was a member of the 2002 SEC Academic Honor Roll and was the recipient of the 2002 LSU Academic Achievement Award. Agar was named the CHAMPS Student-Athlete of the Month in Sept. 2003 and also won the 2001 LSU Strength and Conditioning Award. Agar was also named a Third-Team Academic All-American by CoSIDA in November.
Kate Ripple was the recipient of the team’s Strength and Conditioning Award. Ripple was a first-year member of the LSU program after transferring from Texas A&M. She was a starter in every games this past season and totaled five points.
Senior Stephanie Keating won the esteemed Golden Tiger Award. Keating scored seven goals and added seven assists in the 2003 season and was a member of the LSWA All-Louisiana first team for the second-consecutive season.
Stacy Bishop was named the Freshman of the Year as she finished second on the team with 12 goals scored and had 28 points. Bishop was also selected as the Louisiana Freshman of the Year by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. She scored a school-record five goals in leading the Tigers to a 12-0 blanking of Jackson State in just her second collegiate game.
The soccer team received the prestigious NSCAA Team Academic Award for having a team grade point average of at least 3.0 based on grades from the 2002-03 school year and placed seven student-athletes on the 2003 SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll.