Contact: Amber Cox, AMC Director of Information
american_mw@yahoo.com

Columbia Cougars Take AMC Postseason 
Tournament Crown

Columbia, Mo. – Columbia College defeated Harris-Stowe State College in the championship match of the American Midwest Conference (AMC) tournament tonight by a score of 3-1. Both teams will advance to the Region V tournament, which is set to begin next week.

Jason Spencer, a forward for the Columbia College Cougars, has been named the league’s Most Valuable Player in men’s soccer.  The senior from Independence, Mo. led his team to an overall record of 14-4-1 and a first place finish in AMC regular-season play. Spencer recorded 21 goals and six assists for the Cougars.

Dipsy Selolwane, a forward for the Harris-Stowe State College Hornets, is the 2000 AMC Freshman of the Year. Selolwane, who hails from Botswana, provided the Hornets with instant offensive firepower upon his arrival this season. He scored a league-high 27 goals in the regular-season. He also contributed five assists.

The Newcomer of the Year honor is bestowed upon the top transfer-student in the AMC, as voted on by league coaches. Matt Taylor, a defender for the Columbia Cougars, is the 2000 recipient of this award. Taylor notched one goal and four assists for Columbia this season in addition to solidifying Columbia’s backfield.

John Klein, first-year head coach from Columbia College has been named the AMC Coach of the Year. Klein led the Cougars to a regular-season record of 14-4-1 and a #22 ranking in the final regular-season NAIA poll.    

The Hannibal-LaGrange College Trojans are the winners of the first-ever AMC Fair Play/Sportsmanship Award. The award is bestowed on the team that displays the best sportsmanship throughout regular-season conference play and is also voted on by league coaches.

A complete list of the 14-member AMC All-Conference team, the Honorable Mention squad and the Academic All-Conference team, are listed on the following pages. Members of the Academic All-Conference team have earned at least a 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.

Most Valuable Player

Newcomer of the Year

Jason Spencer (JR), Columbia College
Forward from Independence, Mo.

Matt Taylor (SO), Columbia College
Defender from Columbia, MO

Freshman of the Year

Coach of the Year

Dipsy Selolwane, Harris-Stowe State College
Forward from Botswana

John Klein, Columbia College
14-4-1(Reg.-Season) / 5-1(AMC Reg.-Season)

Forwards

Player

School

YR

Hometown

Jason Spencer

Columbia College

JR

Independence, MO

Dipsy Selolwane

Harris-Stowe State College

FR

Botswana

Francisco Mosca

McKendree College

SO

Flandria, Argentina

Sheldon Richard

Missouri Baptist College

SO

Trinidad & Tobago

Midfielders

Player

School

YR

Hometown

Chris Dean

Columbia College

SR

Brechin, Scotland

Juan Pablo Irrera

Columbia College

FR

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Luiz Del Monte

Harris-Stowe State College

SO

Brazil

Claus Hagedorn

Missouri Baptist College

SO

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Defenders  

Player

School

YR

Hometown

Kjell-Einar Teien

Columbia College

SO

Asker, Norway

Rob Appel

Harris-Stowe State College

SO

London, UK

Eugene Khlynn

William Woods University

FR

Toronto, Canada

Adrian Juarez

William Woods University

JR

Santa Fe, Argentina

Keepers

Player

School

YR

Hometown

Andrew Branaum

Columbia College

SO

Columbia, MO

Brian Cross

Missouri Baptist College

SR

St. Louis, MO

Forwards

Player

School

YR

Hometown

Fredrick Orbeck-Nilssen

Columbia College

JR

Borgen, Norway

Midfielders

Player

School

YR

Hometown

Rodrigo Souza

Harris-Stowe State College

SO

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Joe McClary

McKendree College

FR

Collinsville, IL

Andi Mansour

William Woods University

SO

Vasteras, Sweden

Sergio Lemos

Williams Baptist College

SR

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Defenders

Player

School

YR

Hometown

Jack Howard

Hannibal-LaGrange College

SR

Joliet, IL

Danilo Martins

Harris-Stowe State College

JR

Sao Paulo, Brazil

Federico Stocki

Missouri Baptist College

FR

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Jim Kiser

Missouri Baptist College

JR

St. Louis, MO

Rob Lugge

McKendree College

FR

O’Fallon, IL

Eric Gratza

McKendree College

SR

St. Louis, MO

Keepers

Player

School

YR

Hometown

Bryan Kozeny

Harris-Stowe State College

SR

St. Louis, MO

Jeff Dulle

McKendree College

JR

St. Louis, MO

Columbia College
Greg Brennecka, Tim Brown, Anthony Moore, Fredrick Orbeck-Nilssen, Kjell-Einar Teien

Hannibal-LaGrange College
Michael Brookshire, Sebastian Gonzalez, Pete Howard, Andrew Lawson, Brando McKinnon, Rolando Perales

Harris-Stowe State College
Justin Francois, Joseph Kipnusu, George Omondi, Rodrigo Souza, Francis Wakhisi

McKendree College
Andy Brunner, Francisco Mosca, Rick Ringwald

Missouri Baptist College
Mario Ferrario, Claus Hagedorn, Javier Levitt, Saeid Naemi, Juan Palacio, Gustavo Sita

William Woods University
Mariano Farji, Adrian Juarez, Andi Mansour, Samir Naim, Jeff Strange, Ben Viorel

Williams Baptist College
Tim Cooper, Kelly Batey