CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Announced Monday morning, the top three seeds to qualify for the 2016 Patriot League Men's Soccer Championship collected the six major awards, while all six teams in the tournament field combined to fill 27 of the 33 spots on the All-League squads. American, the top seed and host of the semifinal and championship rounds, collected two major awards, Colgate, the third seed, received one, and Loyola Maryland, the second seed, earned three.
All five of the student-athletes that were honored with major awards were also named to the first team All-Patriot League.
Eagles senior midfielder Panos Nakhid was voted as the 2016 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, while senior midfielder Dale Ludwig received the inaugural Midfielder of the Year. Raiders senior Zach Tamen was named the Defender of the Year. Greyhounds senior Matt Sanchez earned Goalkeeper of the Year and freshman forward Brian Saramago was named the Rookie of the Year. Loyola Head Coach Steve Nichols was voted as the Patriot League Coach of the Year.
Voted on by the League’s 10 head coaches, with restrictions of excluding their own student-athletes, all 10 League members were represented by at least one student-athlete on the All-League squads. American, Colgate, and Loyola each saw five student-athletes earn recognition, with the Eagles and Raiders each having three on the first team.
Nakhid, who earns his second-straight first team All-League recognition, holds a League-best eight assists, tallying the most recent on the first goal in the 3-1 victory over Lehigh on Saturday that clinched the top seed for American. Ludwig, a three-time All-League selection, added on what was the game-winning goal in addition to an insurance goal in the game and is second on the team with five goals. The senior-midfielder duo have 12 points each.
Joining the pair on the All-League teams are senior defender Michael Cherry (first team), senior defender Jake Garcia (second team), and senior goalkeeper Lucas Belanger (third team). Belanger recorded a League-best six clean sheets versus League opponents.
With the second-most shutouts in League play (four), Sanchez allowed just five goals across 742:35 minutes of action against League opponents for the second-best average of 0.61. Making a total of 35 saves, the senior averaged 4.38 saves per game and had a .875 save percentage.
Sanchez was joined on the first team by Saramago. The freshman had an impressive season, leading the League with 16 points against its opponents. He tied for a League-best seven goals, with owning sole possession of the most game-winning goals at three.
Head coach Steve Nichols guided Sanchez, Saramago, and the rest of the Greyhounds to a 6-1-2 mark against League opponents to earn a bye into the semifinals as a No. 2 seed, after the 2015 season in which they finished last in the Patriot League standings at 0-8-1. Loyola had five named to the All-League squads – the most for the team since joining the League in 2013. Joining Sanchez and Saramago were sophomore midfielder Gabriel Carlsson, freshman midfielder Barry Sharifi, and senior defender Ryan Ruck, all of whom were named to the second team.
Rounding out the tournament teams garnering honors were Army West Point, Boston University, and Bucknell. All three of the teams had one student-athlete selected to the first team: freshman defender Zach McGraw (Army), junior midfielder Anthony Viteri (Boston U.), senior defender Zack Rockmore (Bucknell).
The Cadets, who totaled five All-League honors, had four named to the third team: freshman forward Rex Epps, junior midfielder Marcos Arroyo, senior defender Christian Clark, and senior defender Tanner Vosvick.
For the Terriers, a trio of seniors were named to the second team: forward Felix De Bona, defender David Asbjornsson, and goalkeeper Matt Gilbert.
The Bison rounded out the group with senior forward Sebastiaan Blickman, being named to the second team, and freshman midfielder Nick King, earning third team.
The final six spots on the All-League teams went to Navy junior midfielder Brock Dudley (second team), Lafayette junior defender Christian Moyse (second team), Navy senior forward Sam Bascom (third team), Lafayette senior midfielder Ryan Egan (third team), Holy Cross junior midfielder Yuji Callahan (third team), and Lehigh senior defender Justin Worley (third team).
The 2016 Patriot League Men's Soccer Championship begins with the quarterfinals on Tuesday with No. 3 seed Colgate hosting No. 6 seed Army West Point in Hamilton, N.Y. and No. 4 seed Boston University welcoming No. 5 seed Bucknell in Boston. Both games will begin at 7 p.m. On Friday, the lowest remaining seed will then play No. 1 American at 11 a.m. while the other quarterfinal winner will take on No. 2 Loyola Maryland at 1:30 p.m. Both semifinal contests on Friday and Sunday’s 1 p.m. championship event will take place at Reeves Field in Washington, D.C.
All five tournament games will air live and for free on the
Patriot League Network.
2016 Men’s Soccer All-Patriot League
Offensive Player of the Year – Panos Nakhid, American, Sr., M
Midfielder of the Year – Dale Ludwig, American, Sr., M
Defensive Player of the Year – Zach Tamen, Colgate, Sr., D
Goalkeeper of the Year – Matt Sanchez, Loyola Maryland, Sr., GK
Rookie of the Year – Brian Saramago, Loyola Maryland, Fr., F
Coach of the Year – Steve Nichols, Loyola Maryland
First Team
Ethan Kutler, Colgate, Sr., F
Brian Saramago, Loyola Maryland, Fr., F
Dale Ludwig, American, Sr., M
Panos Nakhid, American, Sr., M
Anthony Viteri, Boston University, Jr., M
Jared Stroud, Colgate, Jr., M
Michael Cherry, American, Sr., D
Zach McGraw, Army West Point, Fr., D
Zack Rockmore, Bucknell, Sr., D
Zach Tamen, Colgate, Sr., D
Matt Sanchez, Loyola Maryland, Sr., GK
Second Team
Felix De Bona, Boston University, Sr., F
Sebastiaan Blickman, Bucknell, Sr., F
Colin O’Neill, Colgate, Sr., M
Gabriel Carlsson, Loyola Maryland, So., M
Barry Sharifi, Loyola Maryland, Fr., M
Brock Dudley, Navy, Jr., M
Jake Garcia, American, Sr., D
David Asbjornsson, Boston University, Sr., D
Christian Moyse, Lafayette, Jr., D
Ryan Tuck, Loyola Maryland, Sr., D
Matt Gilbert, Boston University, Sr., GK
Third Team
Rex Epps, Army West Point, Fr., F
Sam Bascom, Navy, Sr., F
Ryan Egan, Lafayette, Sr., M
Nick King, Bucknell, Fr., M
Marcos Arroyo, Army West Point, Jr., M
Yuji Callahan, Holy Cross, Jr., M
Christian Clark, Army West Point, Sr., D
Tanner Vosvick, Army West Point, Sr., D
Aram Ouligian, Colgate, So., D
Justin Worley, Lehigh, Sr., D
Lucas Belanger, American, Sr., GK