Teaneck, N.J. – Making its first Northeast Conference Tournament appearance in team history, the
Robert Morris University women's soccer team is also bringing home its biggest postseason award haul in team history as well. Head coach
John Kowalski, in his 15th year at the helm of the RMU program, was named the NEC Coach of the Year for the first time while seniors
Cassie Raymond and
Kristie Hamilton and sophomore
Kayla Kelley earned spots on the All-NEC Second Team.
Kowalski earns the league's Coach of the Year award for the first time as a women's coach although it is his third such honor at RMU – he was the men's coach of the year in 1992 and 1995. Taking a team that was selected to finish eighth in the league's preseason poll, Kowalski led his squad to six wins in its final 10 games and a second place finish in the league standings. He has accomplished the feat while using many of the same players from a 2014 squad that won just four games, molding them into a playoff-bound squad. Joe Barroso of Sacred Heart is the only other coach in league history to earn Coach of the Year for both genders.
Raymond, a redshirt-senior forward, was named to the All-NEC team for the first time in her career. Missing the last two seasons, Raymond has returned with a fury as a fifth-year senior and is third in the league in points (18) and goals (7) and is eighth with four assists. Those season totals also put her in the RMU record books – eighth for points, 10th for goals and 14th for assists. The South Park, Pa., native's banner season has pushed her into the Colonials career top-15 for points, goals and assists.
Hamilton, like Raymond, has earned league honors for the first time in her career. A senior midfielder, Hamilton has been a four-year starter, logging more career minutes than any other player in team history. Her 17 career assists are second all-time and she ranks ninth in squad history with 33 points. This season, the central midfielder has tallied two goals and sits tied for third in the conference with six assists.
Kelley, a central defender, is back on the on All-NEC squad after earning first team and All-Rookie Team honors as a freshman in 2014. Kelley's presence in the central defense has helped the Colonials record a team-best goals against average last season along with two shutouts in 2015. Kelley tallied a pair of goals in her sophomore season, scoring against Northern Arizona and tallying the gamewinner at Wagner in mid-October.
The second-seed Colonials begin their first foray in the postseason, Friday, Nov. 6, when they take on #3 seed Bryant in a 2:00 p.m. contest at top-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson.
