April 16, 2007

ST. LOUIS - Senior defender Dan Guffey (St. Peters, Mo. / Howell North) was named the Saint Louis men's soccer Most Valuable Player on Friday at the annual awards banquet at the Anheuser-Busch Conference Center. The Billikens celebrated a season that included an Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season championship, an 11th seed in the NCAA Tournament and a No. 9 final ranking in the NSCAA national poll.

Guffey earned NSCAA second-team All-Region and first-team All-Conference recognition after anchoring a Billiken defense that allowed a league-low 0.90 goals per game and posted 10 shutouts. He was named the Defensive MVP at Indiana's adidas Classic and was selected to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week for his defensive effort at the tourney. A finance major, Guffey earned NSCAA Scholar All-America honors and was a member of the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District team.

Senior goalkeeper Nick Billman (St. Louis, Mo. / DeSmet) received the Mark Demling Award as the individual who put the team first and foremost and gave everything he had to the team. He began his collegiate career at the University of Massachusetts and returned to St. Louis to finish his career as a Billiken. Billman appeared in seven games and posted a 1.14 GAA.

Senior midfielder Alex Matteson (St. Louis, Mo. / Chaminade) received the Goal of the Year award, as voted upon by his teammates, for his game-winning tally against No. 9 Indiana Sept. 15 on CSTV. Matteson buried a 12-yard strike past the IU keeper off a feed from sophomore Kyle Patterson (Birmingham, England), vaulting SLU to the 1-0 victory.

Dr. Scott Goldman, Jim Whalen and The St. Louis Sports Commission were honored with the 12th Man Award. That honor is bestowed on the individual or individuals as recognition for meritorius service and support to Billiken soccer.

Former Billiken Kevin Kalish, who is currently an assistant coach at SIU Edwardsville, received the Alumni Achievement award. Kalish was an Academic All-American in 1999 and was recently inducted into the Billiken Hall of Fame.