LEXINGTON ? Kentucky senior Jamal Shteiwi has been named Mid-American Conference Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, it was announced by the league office on Wednesday.

For the second consecutive year Shteiwi has been tabbed the top player in the MAC and leads the 2004 All-MAC first team. The senior from Cincinnati, Ohio, is the first player in MAC history to win the Player of the Year award twice after leading Kentucky to its fourth conference championship in five years.

Shteiwi led the conference during the regular season in shots (55), shots per game (3.06), points (30), points per game (1.67), goals (11), goals per game (0.61), game-winning goals (3) and finished tied for first in assists (8).

Kentucky led the conference in All-MAC selections with seven overall, including five first-teamers. Joining Shteiwi on the first-team were juniors defenders Thomas Senecal and Brandon Stewart, junior goalkeeper Andy Gruenebaum and sophomore Anthony Peters.

Senecal, Stewart and Gruenebaum anchored the defense for the Wildcats, which has held its last 17 opponents to one goal or less. Both Stewart and Senecal tallied three goals on the year. Peters ranks second on the team with five assists to go along with his two goals.

Freshman midfielder Michael D?Agostino and freshman forward Michael Strong each earned second-team All-MAC honors. Strong is Kentucky?s second leading scorer with five goals while D?Agostino anchored the midfield and is the only Wildcat freshman to start in every game this year.

Northern Illinois forward Curt Zastrow was tabbed the Newcomer of the Year after finishing the season with 18 points on eight goals and two assists.

Huskies coach Steve Simmons was voted Coach of the Year by his colleagues after leading Northern Illinois to an overall record of 12-7-0 and a 4-2 league mark. Simmons led a nine-game turnaround in the win column from a year ago when the Huskies finished with a 3-13-2 record.