Lady Jacket Soccer Team Hands out Season Awards (Dec. 8, 2004)

BILLINGS, MT – The Montana State-Billings women’s soccer team announced its 2004 season awards this week.  The Yellowjackets finished the season with a 12-4-3 overall record and a No. 10 raking in the Far West Region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.  It was the first time an MSU Billings soccer team has been ranked at the end of a season.

Goalkeeper Megan Plank was named the team’s Most Valuable Player for the second-straight year.  The sophomore from Phoenix, AZ, posted a school-record 1.03 goals against average in 19 starts and made 98 saves.  She is the school record holder with 18 career wins and will need just 20 saves in 2005 to break the school record in that category.

Junior transfer Lacey Albrent was selected as the Newcomer of the Year.  Albrent, a defender from Ojai, CA, started 18 games in her first season with the Yellowjackets and was a key component of the Jackets’ record setting defense.  MSU Billings set a school record with a team goals-against average of 1.08 while allowing just 22 goals, the fewest of any team in school history.

Margot Merrill-Johnson garnered two awards for her record-setting season, earning the Scholar Athlete Award and Quest for Excellence Award.  The Scholar Athlete Award is given to the player with the highest cumulative grade point average on the team.  The Quest for Excellence Award is give to the upperclassmen who demonstrates teamwork, hard work, dedication, discipline, and passion in the women’s soccer program.

Merrill-Johnson, a senior from Salt Lake City, has a 3.88 cumulative grade point average while double majoring in history and sociology.  She was named to the ESPN Academic All-America first team in November.  Merrill-Johnson set school single-season records with 11 goals and 28 points this season.  She started all 70 games of her collegiate career and broke the school record for career points with 71.

The Yellowjackets also received the 2004 College Women’s Team Academic Award from the NSCAA this week.  The award is given to college soccer teams with cumulative team grade point averages above 3.00 in the previous school year.  For the 2003-2004 academic year, the Lady Jackets posted a 3.38 cumulative team GPA.