FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Mount Ida brings home
trio of major awards
WINTHROP, Mass. – Mount Ida College collected three major awards on Monday as the Great Northeast Athletic Conference announced its 2015 Men’s Soccer All-Conference Teams. Senior forward Carlos Martinez was selected as the GNAC Offensive Player of the Year, freshman teammate Juan Brenes was named GNAC Rookie of the Year and fifth-year head coach Joseph Campbell was voted the GNAC Coach of the Year.
Martinez registered nine goals and two assists for the Mustangs, as did Brenes, while Campbell was selected by his peers after guiding Mount Ida to a second-place regular-season finish after finishing fifth in 2014.
Norwich University senior back Christian Albrecht was named the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, while Lasell College senior Miguel Colmenares was voted the GNAC Goalkeeper of the Year.
Albrecht chipped in two goals and three helpers on the Cadets’ backline, which allowed just 21 goals on the season (1.02 per game), while Colmenares topped the GNAC in saves (101) and was fourth in save percentage (.783).
Martinez, Albrecht and Colmenares were all named to the GNAC First Team. For the complete All-Conference breakdown, please see below.
Johnson & Wales University, which won its third straight GNAC title this past weekend, placed four student-athletes, including three freshmen, on the First Team in junior midfielder Xavier Carty, freshman forward Tucker MacPherson, freshman midfielder Byron Arboleda and freshman back Robert Hayman. Carty, MacPherson and Arboleda have combined to register 31 goals and 19 assists for 81 points entering NCAA Tournament play.
From Norwich, joining Albrecht on the First Team were juniors Jacob Zimmerman and Moab Schiers. Zimmerman had 11 goals and three assists, while Schiers totaled seven goals and five helpers.
Rounding our the First Team selections were Emmanuel College senior midfielder David Field and Albertus Magnus College senior back Austin Tomin.
Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 12 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 17 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement.
First Team
F – Tucker MacPherson, Johnson & Wales (Fr., Raymond, N.H.)
F – Carlos Martinez, Mount Ida (Sr., Chelsea, Mass.)
F – Jacob Zimmerman, Norwich (Jr., Litchfield, N.H.)
M – David Field, Emmanuel (Sr., Laguna Niguel, Calif.)
M – Byron Arboleda, Johnson & Wales (Fr., Pawtucket, R.I.)
M – Xavier Carty, Johnson & Wales (Jr., Mt. Vernon, N.Y.)
M – Moab Schiers, Norwich (Jr., South Weber, Utah)
B – Austin Tomin, Albertus Magnus (Sr., Hamden, Conn.)
B – Robert Hayman, Johnson & Wales (Fr., Tomkins Cove, N.Y.)
B – Christian Albrecht, Norwich (Sr., Albuquerque, N.M.)
GK – Miguel Colmenares, Lasell (Sr., Caracas, Venezuela)
Second Team
F – Alexis Garcia, Albertus Magnus (Jr., West Haven, Conn.)
F – Alex Zapata, Albertus Magnus (Jr., Hamden, Conn.)
F – Christopher Mattioli, Anna Maria (Jr., Sturbridge, Mass.)
M – Alexi Flores, Mount Ida (Fr., Central Falls, R.I.)
M – Ethan Melia, Norwich (Fr., Shrewsbury, Mass.)
M – Ralph Houanche, Saint Joseph’s (Maine) (Sr., Port-au-Prince, Haiti)
M – Johnny Thomas, Saint Joseph’s (Maine) (Jr., Boston, Mass.)
B – Luke Pugsley, Mount Ida (Sr., Milton, Mass.)
B – Zach Garcia, Norwich (Sr., Yuma, Ariz.)
B – Sean Baker, Saint Joseph’s (Maine) (Jr., Medfield, Mass.)
GK – Stefan Skoff, Norwich (Fr., San Jose, Calif.)
Third Team
F – Conor Fitzgerald, Lasell (Sr., Marshfield, Mass.)
F – Juan Brenes, Mount Ida (Fr., Santo Domingo, D.R.)
F – Austin Bell, Saint Joseph’s (Maine) (So., Gorham, Maine)
M – Matt Mueller, Albertus Magnus (Jr., Cheshire, Conn.)
M – Stefano Sainato, Emmanuel (Sr., Albany, N.Y.)
M – Doug Kase, Johnson & Wales (Sr., Clifton, N.J.)
M – Nick Vreeland, Mount Ida (Fr., Berlin, Conn.)
B – Derrick Casey, Anna Maria (So., Worcester, Mass.)
B – Tyler Grothusen, Mount Ida (Jr., Ramsey, N.J.)
B – Ben Daniels, Suffolk (Jr., Nantucket, Mass.)
GK – Riley Ford, Mount Ida (So., Guilderland, N.Y.)
Offensive Player of the Year – Carlos Martinez, Mount Ida
Defensive Player of the Year – Christian Albrecht, Norwich
Rookie of the Year – Juan Brenes, Mount Ida
Goalkeeper of the Year – Miguel Colmenares, Lasell
Coach of the Year – Joseph Campell, Mount Ida
Institutional Sportsmanship Award – Norwich University
All-Sportsmanship Team
Alex Perez, Albertus Magnus (So., Hamden, Conn.)
Dan McElhnney, Anna Maria (Fr., Natick, Mass.)
David Quaye, Emmanuel (Fr., Ashburnham, Mass.)
Andrew Vecere Johnson & Wales (Fr., Wayne, N.J.)
Connor Wall, Lasell (Fr., East Hampton, Conn.)
Ryan Burch, Mount Ida (Jr., Greenwich, N.Y.)
Eric Beecy, Norwich (Sr., Stowe, Vt.)
Jerry Krahn, Rivier (Jr., Greene, R.I.)
Nate Fox, Saint Joseph’s (Maine) (Sr., South Portland, Maine)
Alex Ypsilantis, Suffolk (Jr., Belmont, Mass.)
– #TheGNAC –