ATTLEBORO, Mass. – Southern Vermont Mountaineer junior forward Nick Haggerty (Wynantskill, N.Y.), a criminal justice major, was named the 2010 NECC Men's Soccer Player of the Year. Chris Hanson and Aaron Eschler made the NECC Second-Team and Noah Massucci rounded out the SVC allocates as he made the Honorable-Mention Team.
In conference play, Haggerty led the league in points (23) , points per game(3.29), goals (11) and goals per game (1.57). He was sixth in the NECC in shots (21) and shots per game (3.00) as well. Haggerty also reached the top five in the NCAA Division III national statistics in two different categories (Goals per game 1.07 - 4th) (Points per game 2.27 - 2nd). He was named NECC player of the week three times and ECAC player of the week. Overall, he finished with 17 goals, two assists and 36 points.
"I'm very happy that Nick received this honor this year," said SVC Head Coach Tim Penrod. "In his three years here, he's proven each season he's one of the most dangerous players in our conference. To score like he does with so much consistency is something you rarely see at this level. Not only are the 17 goals this year impressive, the fact that he's scored 31 in the last two seasons speaks to what type of player he is. Without his work rate, we wouldn't have made the run that we did this year: he's one of those very special players who can take over an entire game and put a team on his shoulders if he needs to."
For the second straight year, Lesley University Lynx senior Zachary Almeida-Beers (Rehoboth, Mass.) was named the NECC Men's Soccer Goalkeeper of the Year. Almeida-Beers, a history and global studies major, tallied 8 saves with a 0.18 goals against average leading the conference in save percentage (.889) ,shut-outs (3) and shut-outs per game (0.50). Overall he has played 1474:04 minutes while notching 42 saves, a 0.37 GAA and an .875 save percentage in 17 of their 18 matches.
Becker College Hawk freshman forward Aldo Karkanjozi (Sterling Heights, Mich.) nabbed the 2010 NECC Men's Soccer Rookie of the Year award for his first season of collegiate play. Karkanjozi, undecided in his major, earned NECC Rookie of the Week honors once. In NECC play, he was second in shots (26) and shots on goal (4.33, third in points (16) and points per game (2.67), fourth in goals (6), third in goals per game (1.00), second in assists (4) and assists per game (0.67) and second in game winning goals (1). He is the only major award winner to place in the top five in all offensive categories. Overall, Karkanjozi led the Hawks with ten goals, eight assists and 28 points.
Almeida-Beers was joined by his head coach Paul Vasconcelos as the 2010 NECC Men's Soccer Coach of the Year. This is the second straight year Vasconcelos has won the men's soccer honor. Vasconcelos led the Lynx to a 15-2-1 overall record and 6-1-0 in conference play. They earned the #1 seed in the NECC tournament.
For the second straight season, the Wildcats of Wheelock, led by head coach Stephanie Smyrl were honored as the 2010 NECC Team Sportsmanship Award recipients. In their second season of play, the Wildcats went 0-16 and 0-7 in conference.
Seven of the eight sponsored programs were represented on the 2010 New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Men's Soccer All-Conference Team, it was announced today by Commissioner Del Malloy. In addition to the All-NECC honors, four separate major individual award winners and the team sportsmanship award were also voted upon and selected in the final week of the season by the NECC men's soccer coaches.
Eight others joined Haggerty, Almeida-Beers and Karkanjozi on the All-NECC First Team in the forward position. Second team honors went out to eleven players in all. Representing SVC defenders on the second team is sophomore defender Chris Hansen of Raymertown, N.Y.
"Chris had an absolute break-out season for us at right back," said coach Penrod. "He doesn't play like a sophomore: he makes decisions and plays that you would expect to see from an upperclassmen each and every game. Chris is one of the more technical players, can go forward into the attack, can defend one-on-one, and has an extra gear when it comes to running down attackers for opponents. He's a very special player, who I know we can continue to expect great things from over the next two years."
Also making second team was Southern Vermont senior keeper Aaron Eschler of Gloversville, N.Y.
"I don't think I can possibly say enough about what Aaron was to this program over this season, let alone the past three years," said Coach Penrod. "He played all but 45 minutes in goal for us this year, and he really gutted things out coming back from surgery in the off season. He kept us in games all year long. I think what really makes him special is the fact he makes both the routine saves, but also the game saving and game changing saves on a very consistent basis. His leadership on and off the field are irreplaceable. He is truly one of the cornerstones with which we have rebuilt this program."
Five defenders received NECC honorable mention honors and representing Southern Vermont was sophomore Noah Massucci of Craftsbury, Vermont.
"I can honestly say that Noah means more to this team's success than almost anyone else in our program," said Coach Penrod. "He is the most consistent player I have ever coached. Each and every game, you know exactly what you are going to get with this young man on the field. His leadership is phenomenal: as a coach, I feel a lot better whenever we are playing defense with him out there. His speed is unmatched by almost anyone in the conference, and his jumping ability is contested only by the handful of players who are over 6'3". He doesn't get beaten one-on-one, and he's perfectly willing to sacrifice every inch of his body to help this program. He is the type of player and kid that every coach wishes he had 6 of to put on the field."
2010 NECC MENS SOCCER PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Nick Haggerty, Southern Vermont, JR (Wynantskill, N.Y.)
2010 NECC MENS SOCCER GOALIE OF THE YEAR: Zachary Almeida-Beers, Lesley, SR (Rehoboth, Mass.)
2010 NECC MENS SOCCER ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Aldo Karkanjozi, Becker, FR (Sterling Heights, Mich.)
2010 NECC MEN'S SOCCER COACH OF THE YEAR: Paul Vasconcelos, Lesley
2010 NECC MENS SOCCER TEAM SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD: Wheelock College
2010 ALL-NECC MENS SOCCER FIRST TEAM
Forwards
Nick Haggerty, Southern Vermont, Junior
Ali Sozeri, Lesley, Freshman
Jamie Serrano, Mitchell, Senior
Midfielders
Shaundize Moosavizadeh, Newbury, Sophomore
Ari Sinanis, Lesley, Sophomore
Alex Jackson, Daniel Webster, Junior
Defenders
Samson Kiberu, Daniel Webster, Senior
Christian Domingo, Lesley, Junior
Stephen Siragusa, Lesley, Senior
Goalkeeper
Zachary Almeida-Beers, Lesley, Senior
2010 ALL-NECC MENS SOCCER SECOND TEAM
Forwards
Spencer Bernard, Daniel Webster, Junior
Midfielders
Tyler Reeves, Lesley, Senior
James Gleason, Mitchell, Junior
Dustin Huguenin, Mitchell, Junior
Michael Lohr, Daniel Webster, Senior
Defenders
Luis Cipriano, Becker, Senior
Chris Hansen, Southern Vermont, Sophomore
Goalkeepers
Aaron Eschler, Southern Vermont, Senior
Kevin Woodford, Mitchell, Junior
William McNally, Newbury, Junior
Joe Keene, Daniel Webster, Junior
2010 ALL-NECC MENS SOCCER HONORABLE MENTION
Defenders
Matt Grandy, Mitchell, Sophomore
Andrew Donovan, Daniel Webster, Junior
John Burkart, Mitchell, Senior
Noah Massucci, Southern Vermont, Sophomore
Joseph Lawer, Newbury, Senior