Dec. 20, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Junior forward Brendan Burgdorf (Westfield, N.J./Pingry School), one of five Bucknell men's soccer student-athletes to earn NSCAA Scholar All-East accolades this week, has now gone on to earn First Team Scholar All-America honors. Burgdorf is one of 68 Scholar All-Americans from all divisions of college soccer, and he will be honored annual All-America Luncheon, to be held in the Kansas City Convention Center's Grand Ballroom on Saturday, Jan. 14, in conjunction with the 2012 NSCAA Convention in Kansas City, Mo.
In addition, senior defender Andrew Powell (Charlton, Mass./St. John's) was named to the Scholar All-East Second Team, while Honorable Mention honors went to senior goalkeepers Tommy Caso (Phoenix, Md./McDonogh) and Marc Hartmann (Bradenton, Fla./St. Stephen's) along with senior midfielder Ryan Sappington (Barboursville, Va,/Shattuck-St. Mary's).
A physics major at Bucknell, Burgdorf recently earned NSCAA All-Mid-Atlantic Region First Team honors for his work on the field this fall, and he also joined Caso and Sappington on the Patriot League All-Academic Team. Burgdorf is Bucknell's second NSCAA Scholar All-American, joing Adam Edwards, who received the honor in 2004.
Burgdorf was named the Preseason Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year back in August, and he turned in a third straight outstanding season. Even though his goal-scoring numbers fell a bit in 2011, Burgdorf was still very impactful and was a handful for opposing defenses to handle. He finished with two goals - both coming against nationally ranked opponents in Notre Dame and Indiana - and a team-high six assists for a total of 10 points. Burgdorf, who was also a Capital One Academic All-District selection this fall, finished second in the Patriot League in assists this season and earned Second Team All-Patriot League honors.
In his first three seasons at Bucknell, Burgdorf has 17 goals and 10 assists for 44 points.
Powell, an accounting major at Bucknell, earned Scholar All-East honors for the second year in a row. He endured some injuries this season that prevented him from earning All-Patriot League honors for the third straight year, but Powell still turned in a strong campaign. He started 14 games and scored one goal, coming against Colgate late in the year.
Caso is also a repeat Scholar All-East honoree. This fall he made his third straight appearance on the Capital One Academic All-District Team, joining Jonathan Hemmert (2002-04) as Bucknell's only three-time honorees in men's soccer. The team's starting goalkeeper throughout most of his four-year career, Caso is tied for third on the program's all-time list with 19 career shutouts. This season, Caso had a 7-5-1 record with five clean sheets and a solid 1.09 goals-against average.
Caso is a mechanical engineering major with a 3.82 cumulative grade-point average and a near-perfect 3.95 GPA within his major.
Hartmann majors in business management at Bucknell. He appeared in six games in 2011, making five starts, and he finished with one shutout and a 1.35 goals-against average.
Sappington is a two-time member of the Patriot League All-Academic Team. He was a key starter on Bucknell's 2009 and 2010 Patriot League championship teams, and he was starting once again this season until being hobbled by a late-season injury. One of the team's most versatile players, Sappington played fullback, outside midfield and defensive midfield during his Bucknell career. He scored three career goals, including a game-winner this year against Saint Francis (Pa.).
Sappington has been just as impressive in the classroom and in the community. He is a philosophy and psychology double-major with a 3.87 cumulative GPA.
Bucknell also earned yet another NSCAA Team Academic Award for maintaining a team GPA of over 3.0.
After winning the 2009 and 2010 Patriot League championships, Bucknell finished the 2011 campaign with a 7-9-2 record.