STANDISH, ME - Head Coach Steve Babineau has announced the 2012 Men's Soccer Team Awards. Five players combined to earn a total of six team awards at the Monks' awards banquet, which was held at Rustler's Steak House in Windham on Sunday evening.
For the second-consecutive season, junior forward Zach Johnson (Westbrook, Maine) has claimed the team's Golden Boot - given annually to the side's leading goal scorer - and Offensive Player of the Year honors. The two-time All-Conference honoree led the Monks in goals (6), points (13) and game-winning markers (5) during his junior campaign and tied the SJC career game-winning goals mark (13) last fall.
Sophomore midfielder Evan Wright (New Preston, Conn.) was selected by the coaching staff as the side's Most Improved Player. Wright appeared in five games with three starts as a second-year player and continued to hone his athletic skills as a member of the SJC swim team during the winter season.
Freshman goalkeeper Scott Benner (Post Falls, Idaho) is the 2012 Rookie of the Year. Benner emerged as the Monks' primary netminder as a rookie and appeared in 14 games with 13 starts during his first collegiate campaign. He posted the third-lowest goals against average (1.00) and registered an 8-3-2 record with three shutouts and tallied 65 saves with a .823 save percentage in 1256 minutes between the pipes last fall.
Junior back Dan McIntyre (Sparta, N.J.) has been named as the Monks' Defensive Player of the Year for the second-consecutive season. The team captain was the only Saint Joseph's player to start all 18 games in 2012 and is one of the most technically sound defenders in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC).
The 2012 Player of the Year honor goes to sophomore midfielder Jason Wade (South Hampton, N.H.). Wade, the team's Rookie of the Year as a freshman, tallied three assists last fall. Although not large in stature - listed at 5'3 and 150 pounds; Wade is a force to be reckoned with in the heart of the pitch and his work ethic never goes unnoticed by SJC fans and followers.
Saint Joseph's went 10-7-2 overall and 6-3-1 versus conference opponents en route to claiming the #3 seed in the GNAC Tournament under Coach Babineau's watch in 2012. Sitting with a sub-.500 record in early October, the Monks proceeded to notch six straight victories heading into the postseason, but saw their hopes of a repeat-championship come to a close with a 3-0 loss to #6 Emerson College in a GNAC Tournament quarterfinal on October 27th.
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 350-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.