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Somerset, NJ - As the dominant offensive force in the conference this season, Central Connecticut State sophomore forward Alex Harrison (Eastbourne, England/Willingdon) was rewarded by league head coaches when he was awarded NEC Player of the Year honors on Thursday. Fairleigh Dickinson freshman forward Pino Tubito (East Hanover, NJ/Morris Catholic) claimed the NEC Rookie of the Year award, while St. Francis (PA)’s B.J. Craig was named NEC Coach of the Year. The awards were presented at a banquet on the eve of the 2004 NEC Men’s Soccer Tournament, set to commence on Friday, November 12 at Fairleigh Dickinson’s University Stadium in Teaneck, NJ. In the semifinals, four-time defending NEC champion and top-seed Fairleigh Dickinson will face #4 seed Quinnipiac at 11:00 am, followed by #2 seed St. Francis (PA) taking on #3 seed Long Island at 1:30 pm. The championship match will be decided on Sunday, November 14 at 12:00 pm. The winner of the NEC championship will receive the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. First round NCAA action begins on Friday and Saturday, November 19-20 at campus sites.
The NEC Rookie of the Year and a first team all-NEC selection a year ago, Harrison enters the postseason as the NCAA’s top-ranked goal scorer (1.06 gpg) and second leading point producer (2.38 ppg). The two-time NEC Player of the Week leads the conference by a wide margin in both categories with 17 goals and 38 points, and has lifted his career totals to 27 goals and 61 points in just two years of play. In addition, Harrison’s four goals and nine points in a 5-4 win over Sacred Heart on September 5th place him first and second, respectively, among the top single-game performances across the nation this season. He was also named to College Soccer News National Team of the Week after being tabbed Offensive MVP of the adidas/Hypertherm Tournament at Dartmouth in late September. A success in the classroom as well as on the field, the Eastbourne, England native was recently named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team.
Joining a veteran core of players at Fairleigh Dickinson, Tubito immediately become one of the focal points of the Knights’ offensive attack in his freshman campaign. A two-time NEC Rookie of the Week, he leads Fairleigh Dickinson and is tied for fifth in the league with six goals. He is also the NEC’s seventh leading scorer with 14 points. Hailing from East Hanover, NJ, Tubito was named to the Soccer America and College Soccer News Teams of the Week for his effort in the Knights' two conference wins over St. Francis (NY) and Long Island in early October.
Craig has quickly turned around the Red Flash program in his second year at the helm, leading St. Francis (PA) to its first-ever NEC Tournament appearance in 2004. The Red Flash established school records for overall (ten) and league (six) wins this season, and enter tourney play with a perfect 3-0 record against teams in the field.
After capturing its fourth NEC regular season title in five years, Fairleigh Dickinson had a league-best four players recognized as first team all-stars, including a pair of three-time honorees in junior midfielder Nadav Gottesman (Haifa, Israel/M. Fleiman) and senior defender Mathieu Savaria (Montreal, Quebec/Andre-Laurendeau). Gottesman makes his second straight first team appearance after scoring four goals - all in league play - during the regular season and earning NEC Player of the Week accolades on October 18. Savaria, a first team pick in 2002, was one of the ringleaders of an FDU defense that allowed just 19 goals in 17 matches. Senior midfieler Antonio Nunziata (Caracas, Venezuela/Cristo Rey), a second team selection and the MVP of the NEC Tournament a year ago, has registered four goals and five assists to rank third on the Knights in both categories. With the loss of high scoring Aaron Paye to graduation, junior forward Mirza Rusevic (Clifton, NJ/Clifton) stepped up his production in 2004 and enters the postseason as the team’s leading scorer with five goals and six assists for 16 points.
Long Island features a trio of first team honorees, led by three-time all-NEC award winner Jonas Stigh (Trollhattan, Sweden/Magnus Albergsgymnasiet), a senior defender. Tabbed to the first team for the second year in a row, Stigh was the perfect defensive counterpart to senior goalkeeper Ryszard Gorski (Aberdeenshire, Scotland/Robert Gordon Univ.), a first time all-star who has compiled a league-best six shutouts and is second with a 0.94 goals against average. Through their efforts, the Blackbirds have yielded a league-low 17 goals in 17 matches and posted an NEC-best 0.52 goals against average in league play. Joining Stigh and Gorski is graduate student Ricardo Ordain (Brooklyn, NY/Col. Tecnico de Limon (St. Francis (NY)), who earns his second all-conference nod in the midfield. A transfer from St. Francis (NY), Ordain was just a sophomore when he was named to the NEC second team back in 2001 for the Terriers. This season, Ordain leads the Blackbirds with four assists, and ranks second in goals (four) and points (12).
Four NEC schools placed one player apiece on the all-NEC first team, including CCSU’s Harrison, the NEC Player of the Year. He is accompanied by a pair of two-time picks in St. Francis (PA) senior forward Bernie Showers (Fredericksburg, PA/Northern Lebanon) and Robert Morris senior midfielder Joe Di Buono (Vaudreuil, Quebec/Fairleigh Dickinson), along with Quinnipiac junior defender Cory Shilcock-Elliott (Rosemont, PA/Radnor), a first time recipient. One of the most prolific scorers in the conference, Showers is second in the NEC with 11 goals and 24 points. The reigning NEC Player of the Week, Showers was also named to College Soccer News Team of the Week this past Monday after helping lead the Red Flash to their first postseason appearance with a pair of wins over the weekend. He has totaled 27 goals and 60 points over the course of his career. Di Buono finished his year as the Colonial leader in goals (six), assists (five) and points (17). In the conference rankings, he stands third in scoring, fourth in assists and fifth in goals. Shilcock-Elliott is one of the field generals on a Bobcat defense that permitted one or less goals in 12 out of 18 matches this season. He also produced on the offensive end, tallying three assists.
Three schools feature a pair of second team award winners. Central Connecticut State junior forward Jorden Holder (Oxon, England/Bicester Community), the 2002 NEC Rookie of the Year and a second team all-conference selection that same season, is tied for the league lead with eight assists and also ranks seventh in the circuit with 14 points. He twice recorded three assist games this season, tying him for fourth in the nation in the single-game category. Holder is joined by teammate Peter Howe (Havelock North, New Zealand/Havelock North), a sophomore midfielder. In orchestrating CCSU’s lethal offensive attack - the Blue Devils rank 14th nationally with 2.3 goals per game - Howe contributed three goals and four assists in 2004.
Monmouth senior midfielder John Carrozza (Springfield, PA/Central Regional) and junior defender Ed Hayden (Olney, MD/Magruder) both make their initial all-star appearances following a season that saw the Hawks make a three-game improvement from 2003. Carrozza was the team’s second leading scorer with eight points (three goals, two assists), while Hayden was an integral part of a Hawk defense that posted four shutouts and finished the year with a 1.23 goals against average.
Playoff-bound Quinnipiac fills two spots on the second team with junior midfielder Lassana Camara (Barako, Mali/LBF) and junior goalkeeper Conor Shilcock-Elliott (Rosemont, PA/Radnor). Camara is tied for the team lead with three assists, and also ranks second on the Bobcats with three goals and nine points. Shilcock-Elliott anchors one the league’s stingiest defensive units. He is the NEC’s top-ranked goalie in save percentage (.862) and saves per game (6.67), a category where he also ranks fifth nationally. Shilcock-Elliott also ranks third in shutouts (5.0) and fifth in goals against average (1.04).
Joining Fairleigh Dickinson’s Tubito - the NEC Rookie of the Year - on the second team are Long Island senior defender Josh Couvillion (New Orleans, LA/Jesuit), St. Francis (NY) senior midfielder Alessandro Acquista (Whitestone, NY/Holy Cross), St. Francis (PA) freshman defender Jarron Brooks (Mitchellville, MD/Archbishop Carroll) and Sacred Heart sophomore forward Ricarti Mendes (Campinas, Sao Paulo/Campinas). In spearheading the NEC’s top-ranked defense, Couvillion has now nabbed back-to-back second team honors. Providing a bit of offensive punch as well, Couvillion scored one goal and tied for the team lead with four assists. Making his second straight second team appearance, Acquista scored two goals and added three assists for the Terriers. Brooks is one of the key defensive components on a Red Flash team that has allowed just three goals over their last five matches heading into the postseason. Mendes paced the Pioneers with five goals, three assists and 13 points. He is third in the NEC in points per game (1.18), fourth in goals per game (0.45) and seventh in assists per game (0.27).
2004 NEC Men’s Soccer Award Winners
Player of the Year
Alex Harrison CCSU F 5-10 So. Eastbourne, England/Willingdon
Rookie of the Year
Pino Tubito FDU F 5-7 Fr. East Hanover, NJ/Morris Catholic
Coach of the Year
B.J. Craig St. Francis (PA)
2004 NEC Men’s Soccer First Team All-Conference
Name School Pos. Ht. Yr Hometown/High School
Alex Harrison CCSU F 5-10 So. Eastbourne, England/Willingdon
Mirza Rusevic FDU F 5-11 Jr. Clifton, NJ/Clifton
Bernie Showers St. Francis (PA) F 6-0 Sr. Fredericksburg, PA/Northern Lebanon
Joe DiBuono Robert Morris MF 5-9 Sr. Vaudreuil, Quebec/Fairleigh Dickinson
Nadav Gottesman FDU MF 5-9 Jr. Haifa, Israel/M. Fleiman
Antonio Nunziata FDU MF 6-0 Sr. Caracas, Venezuela/Cristo Rey
Ricardo Ordain Long Island MF 6-2 GS Brooklyn, NY/Col. Tecnico de Limon (St. Francis (NY)
Mathieu Savaria FDU D 5-9 Sr. Montreal, Quebec/Andre-Laurendeau
Cory Shilcock-Elliott Quinnipiac D 6-1 Jr. Rosemont, PA/Radnor
Jonas Stigh Long Island D 6-3 Sr. Trollhattan, Sweden/Magnus Albergsgymnasiet
Ryszard Gorski Long Island GK 6-4 Sr. Aberdeenshire, Scotland/Robert Gordon Univ.
2004 NEC Men’s Soccer Second Team All-Conference
Name School Pos. Ht. Yr Hometown/High School
Jorden Holder CCSU F 5-11 Jr. Oxon, England/Bicester Community
Ricarti Mendes Sacred Heart F 5-7 So. Campinas, Sao Paulo/Campinas
Pino Tubito FDU F 5-7 Fr. East Hanover, NJ/Morris Catholic
Alessandro Acquista St. Francis (NY) MF 5-10 Sr. Whitestone, NY/Holy Cross
Lassana Camara Quinnipiac MF 5-11 Jr. Barako, Mali/LBF
John Carrozza Monmouth MF 5-7 Sr. Springfield, PA/Central Regional
Peter Howe CCSU MF 5-10 So. Havelock North, New Zealand/Havelock North
Jarron Brooks St. Francis (PA) D 5-9 Fr. Mitchellville, MD/Archbishop Carroll
Josh Couvillion Long Island D 5-8 Sr. New Orleans, LA/Jesuit
Ed Hayden Monmouth D 6-3 Jr. Olney, MD/Magruder
Conor Shilcock-Elliott Quinnipiac GK 6-2 Jr. Rosemont, PA/Radnor