Four SJC Men’s Soccer Players Earn All-GNAC Honors

Four SJC Men’s Soccer Players Earn All-GNAC Honors

STANDISH, Maine – The 2015 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Soccer All-Conference teams have been released and four Saint Joseph's College players have earned honors.

Senior Ralph Houanche (Port-au-Prince, Haiti) and juniors Johnny Thomas (Boston, Mass.) and Sean Baker (Medfield, Mass.) have claimed Second Team honors and sophomore Austin Bell (Gorham, Maine) has been listed on the Third Team for the second-consecutive season.

Houanche collects his first All-Conference nod after netting a goal with five assists for seven total points. The senior midfielder capped his career with four goals and six helpers for 14 total points in 75 contests over four collegiate seasons.

Thomas, a junior transfer from Bunker Hill Community College, earns Second Team honors after totaling six goals and a pair of assists for 14 total points in his first year with the Monks. The center mid led the SJC side in shots (42) and tied for the team-lead with 21 shots on goal while ranking second in goals and third in points.

Baker collects his first postseason honor after netting five goals, including the game-winner versus Suffolk University on October 9th, during his third collegiate campaign. The junior defender hit pay dirt on half of his shots, with 10 total attempts and six on target this fall.

Bell earns Third Team honors after netting three goals with nine assists for 15 total points during his sophomore season. He capped the season tied for the conference lead in assists, a total which is also tied for the second most ever recorded in a single season by an SJC men's soccer player.

Under the watch of second-year Head Coach Adrian Dubois, Saint Joseph's registered one of the best turnaround seasons in program history this fall. In 2014, the Monks went 5-15-0 overall, including a 3-6-0 mark in GNAC play. This season, with the help of an impressive recruiting class, St. Joe's went 11-7-1 (6-3-0 GNAC) en route to securing the #3 seed in the conference tournament and hosted sixth-seeded Albertus Magnus College in a GNAC quarterfinal on November 1st.

The Monks scored early and held a 1-0 edge until the 70th minute, when the Falcons knotted the match and the contest went into overtime, with Albertus Magnus netting the winning goal in the 96th minute.

The 2015 men's soccer side set new team records for goals (48), assists (35), points (131) and suffered just two shutouts all season, the fewest goose-egg efforts against in program history (the 1997 team was also shut out twice).

 

2015 MEN'S SOCCER ALL-GNAC TEAMS

 

GNAC RELEASE:

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.

 

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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 474-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.