FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Panthers' Soler Named NE10 Player of the Year, Pair of Warriors Earn Major Awards
MANSFIELD, Mass. – Adelphi's Toni Soler has been named the 2017 Northeast-10 Conference Men's Soccer Player of the Year, as the league office released its men's soccer all-conference teams and awards on Thursday.
Adelphi led the way with eight student-athletes named All-Conference, followed by Merrimack with six. Southern Connecticut and Southern New Hampshire each had five student-athletes recognized.
For a complete list of all-conference members and award winners, as voted upon by the league's head coaches, please see below.
Soler helped lead the Panthers to the NE10 Regular Season title as the senior midfielder helped organize and orchestrate the highest scoring offense in the conference this fall. He posted four goals during the season and added four assists and is currently among the top 25 scorers in the conference. He was also named a First Team All-Conference selection.
Merrimack's Josue Ruiz Maya was selected as the conference's Defensive Player of the Year by the league's head coaches. The graduate student helped lead the Warriors to the No. 2 seed in the NE10 Championship, and they will host Southern Connecticut in one semifinal tomorrow night. Ruiz Maya led a defense that has registered 11 clean sheets so far this season, and has only allowed ten goals in 18 games. He was also a First Team All-Conference honoree.
Ruiz Maya's teammate, Lucas Rezende, was named the NE10 Goalkeeper of the Year. Rezende had an outstanding season in net for the Warriors as the senior led the conference in goals against average (.0.54), wins (14), and shutouts (11). He was also among the league leaders in save percentage with a .815 percentage. Rezende was also named First Team All-Conference.
Southern Connecticut's Nicolas Ruiz Colodero was tabbed the conference's Rookie of the Year. Ruiz Colodero solidified a back line for the Owls that cut their goals allowed in half from last year to this season. The freshman back from Spain was a steadying defensive force the Owls, who earned the 3-seed in this year's NE10 Championship. He was also named a First Team selection by the coaches, and was also named to the conference's All-Rookie team.
Adelphi's Carlo Acquista was recognized as the NE10 Coach of the Year for the second straight season. Acquista led the Panthers to the regular season title as they posted a mark of 11-1-1 during conference play. Eight of Acquista's players were named All-Conference, including Soler, who was named the conference's player of the year.
Player of the Year: Toni Soler, Adelphi
Rookie of the Year: Nicolas Ruiz Colodrero, Southern Connecticut
Defensive Player of the Year: Josue Ruiz Maya, Merrimack
Goalkeeper of the Year: Lucas Rezende, Merrimack
Coach of the Year: Carlo Acquista, Adelphi^
^ Selected for award in 2016
2017 NE10 Men's Soccer All-Conference
First Team
Federico De Oliveira, M, Adelphi
Guillermo Lazcano, D, Adelphi
Toni Soler, M, Adelphi^
Salar Faryar, M, Le Moyne*$
Marek Weber, F, Le Moyne
Filippo Begliardi Ghidini, F, Merrimack
Lucas Rezende, GK, Merrimack
Josue Ruiz Maya, D, Merrimack^
Lars Sund, M, Merrimack*
Louis Greenway-Tambini, F, SCSU^
Nicolas Ruiz Colodrero, D, SCSU
Louka Masset, D, SNHU%
Alex Satrustegui, F, SNHU
Second Team
Andre DeGiorgi, F, Adelphi
John Stocjevski, D, Adelphi%
James Thristino, F, Adelphi^
Jake Durham, M, AIC^$
JP Rylah, F, AIC
Simon Trcka, M, Assumption^$
Julian Stewart, F, Bentley
Noam Kolakofsy, M, Franklin Pierce
Niklas Breunung, D, Le Moyne
Juan Meza, M, Merrimack%
Adekitan Taiwo, D, Saint Rose
Noah Varonier, SCSU
Romain Daniellou, M, SNHU%$
Daniel Jones, D, SNHU
Third Team
Matthew Giaconelli, D, Adelphi
Joseph Sanchez, M, Adelphi
Jason Lages, F, Assumption^$
Ben Beaury, GK, Le Moyne*#
Drew Lovely, D, Merrimack
Dan Kelly, D, Saint Anselm
Emmet O'Callaham, F, Saint Anselm
Andres Rivas, M, Saint Michael's$
Suleiman Haruna-iya, F, Saint Rose
Ignasi Perez Cererols, M, SCSU
Kevin Van Der Pol, D, SCSU
Kiko Hernandez, M, SNHU
Adam Branco, F, Stonehill%
* - First Team in 2016
^ - Second Team in 2016
% - Third Team in 2016
$ - All Rookie Team in 2016
# - All-Conference in 2014
All-Rookie
Ray Leto, Adelphi
Ofek Pinto, Adelphi
JP Rylah, AIC
Adam Watkins, Bentley
Yannik Felber, Franklin Pierce
Saemundur Bjornsson, Le Moyne
Filippo Begliardi Ghidini, Merrimack
Oskar Aastroem, Saint Rose
Nicolas Ruiz Colodrero, SCSU
Ignasi Perez Cererols, SCSU
Kevin Van Der Pol, SCSU
Sebastian Jarlenas, SCSU
Kiko Hernandez, SNHU
Daniel Jones, SNHU
ABOUT THE NE10
The NE10 is an association of 15 diverse institutions serving student-athletes across 24 NCAA Division II sports. Together we build brilliant futures by embracing the journey of every student-athlete.
Each year, 4,500 of those student-athletes compete in conference championships in 24 sports, making the NE10 the largest DII conference in the country in terms of sport sponsorship. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the NE10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.