Jan. 6, 2005

VILLANOVA, Pa. - More than a month after completing its season in the second round of the NCAA Championship, the awards continue to roll in for a Villanova team that finished the season 14-6-2, one win shy of matching the school record. The Mid-Atlantic All-Region teams were announced by Soccer Buzz today, and Villanova had six players earn recognition.

Senior Michelle Biehl (Southampton, Pa.) and junior Laura Koch (Blackwood, N.J.), both defenders, were named to the all-region first team. The pair led a Wildcat back line that shutout 10 of 22 opponents and allowed less than one goal per game. This season, Biehl was named to the Soccer Buzz Elite Feet National Team of the Week on September 29 and was twice selected for the Soccer America National Team of the Week. The two-time All-American concludes her collegiate career having won all-conference and all-region honors all four years. Koch earned all-region honors for the second year in a row and all-conference honors for the first time this season, and was named to the Soccer Buzz Elite Feet team on November 3.

Senior forward Laura Johnson (Ambler, Pa.) and sophomore goalkeeper Jillian Loyden (Vineland, N.J.) were both named to the all-region second team. Johnson led the Wildcats in assists for the third straight year, and was also the team's leader in goals and points for the second time in her career. She tallied nine goals, six assists and 24 points this season, and played her best in crucial situations, knocking in five game-winning goals. She earns all-region honors for the third straight year, and was also named to the Big East all-conference first team and Cosida District II All-Academic District II First team. Loyden anchored the Wildcats defense from the net, where she started every game and allowed just 15 goals while playing 1879:24 in goal. Loyden finished the season with a 0.72 goals-against average and .860 save percentage. She was the Big East Goalkeeper of the Week on three different occasions, and was a second-team all-conference choice.

Freshmen Melissa Murowski (Warren, N.J.) and Kayce Blandford (Baltimore, Md.) each received a nod to the All-Freshman team. Murowski tallied a goal and two assists from the midfield, including her first collegiate score when she fired the ball into the left side of the net against Connecticut in the semifinals of the Big East Championship. Blandford joined Koch and Biehl on Villanova's defense, and recorded two assists in 20 games.

Biehl and Johnson represented two of the five Villanova seniors that ended their careers with a 56-19-15 record (.706) and four straight NCAA tournament appearances. The Wildcats had never made the NCAA tournament before this group of players arrived on campus in 2001.

Villanova was ranked as high as 19th in the nation this season, and was tabbed for a national ranking of 23rd in the final polls of the season. The Wildcats were eliminated by Princeton in the second round of the NCAA Championship, 1-0 in Princeton, N.J. The seventh-seeded Tigers went on to the Final Four before being defeated by UCLA.

The Mid-Atlantic region is comprised of 46 schools, and the all-region awards were determined by a vote open to Division I head coaches and the Soccer Buzz staff. The postseason all-region awards have been presented annually since 1996 by Soccer Buzz. Tiffany Weimer of Penn State was named the region Player of the Year, while Diana Matheson of Princeton was the Freshman of the Year. Princeton head coach Julie Shackford was the region's Coach of the Year.