Northeastern University won three of the top five men's soccer honors in America East as junior forward Atha Kirkopoulos was named Offensive Player of the Year, goalkeeper Sergio Saccoccio was chosen Rookie of the Year, and Ed Matz was selected Coach of the Year. Senior back Keli Helgason of University of Vermont and sophomore Bouna Coundol of University at Albany were named Defensive Player of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year, respectively. All voting is conducted by the conference's head coaches.
Kirkopoulos is fifth in the conference in scoring with seven goals and eight assists for 22 points in 18 games. Saccoccio has started all 18 games in goal and is 9-7-2 overall with a 1.31 goals against average, third in America East. Matz, now in his seventh season as head coach of the Husky men's program, has guided Northeastern to a 6-2-0 mark in America East as the No. 1 seed in the conference championship. Matz, who is also the head coach of the Husky women's soccer team, has also led that team to the conference championship as the No. 4 seed.
Helgasson, who has three goals and an assist for seven points in 16 games, has led a defense which allows 1.47 goals per game. Coundol posted a 1.49 goals against average and was second in America East with an .817 save percentage.
University of Hartford senior Asaf Lubezky leads the all-conference first-team midfielders. Lubezky, who has four goals and two assists for 10 points in 16 games, becomes only the second player in America East history to earn first-team honors in each of his four years in the conference. He joins former Hawk Vito Serafini, who was a first-team choice on the initial America East all-conference team in 1988 and proceeded to earn similar honors in 1989, 1990 and 1991.
Other first-team midfielders include senior Anthony D'Angelo and junior Andrew Dorman of Boston University and junior Adam Wallace of Vermont. Dorman, a repeat selection on the first team, had six goals and leads America East with 10 assists. Wallace has seven goals and two assists for 16 points in 11 games since returning from injury.
Kirkopoulos is joined at forward on first team by junior Nicola Chicco of University New Hampshire and sophomore Alon Lubezky of Hartford. Chicco is second in America East scoring with nine goals and five assists for 23 points in 16 games. Lubezky, a first-team all-conference choice as a rookie, leads America East scoring with 13 goals and two assists for 28 points in 17 games.
Helgason is joined in the back by rookie Graham Munro of Binghamton University and junior Brendan Hankard of New Hampshire. Hankard is eighth in America East scoring with five goals and four assists for 14 points in 16 games. Coundol is the first-team goalkeeper.
The second team consists of sophomores Stephen Bruce of Binghamton and Logan Lee of New Hampshire, and senior Steven Procknal of Albany at forward. Lee is fourth in America East scoring with nine goals and two assists for 20 points in 16 games. Procknal is seventh with six goals and three assists for 15 points in 16 matches.
Juniors Daniel Florenz of University of Maine, Josh Hareld of New Hampshire, Ethan Hutchins of Vermont and Oumar Thiam of Northeastern are the second-team midfielders.
The second-team backs are senior Greg Chevalier of Albany, who has six goals and an assist for 13 points in 17 games, sophomore Erik Evjen of Boston University, who earns second-team honors for the second-consecutive year, and sophomore Rodrigo Marion of Albany. Saccoccio is the second-team goalkeeper.
Marion, Munro, and Saccoccio are joined on the All-Rookie team by Kyle Antos of Binghamton, Neil Beasley of Vermont, David Downing and Tom Heimreid of Northeastern, Cooper Friend of Maine, Jamie Johnson of Boston University, Eric Masi of New Hampshire and Chris Scarpati of Stony Brook University.
Six of the first-team all-conference players and four from the second team will be in action this weekend at the America East Men's Soccer Championship. No. 4 New Hampshire meets No. 1 Northeastern in a semifinal match at 6 p.m. on Saturday, November 9. No. 3 Hartford travels to No. 2 Vermont Sunday, November 10 at 1 p.m. in the other semifinal. The winners meet the following weekend in the championship game.
2002 America East Men’s Soccer All-Conference Team
First Team
Position Name Cl. School Hometown/Last School
Forward Nicola Chicco Jr. New Hampshire Claymont, Del./St. Mark's
Forward Alon Lubezky (1) So. Hartford Kfar Shmaryahu, Israel/Yovel Herzlia
Forward Atha Kirkopoulos Jr. Northeastern Altbach, Germany/Reutlingen University
Midfield Anthony D'Angelo Sr. Boston U. Tewsbury, Mass./Buckingham, Browne and Nichols
Midfield Andrew Dorman (1) Jr. Boston U. Flintshire, Wales/Hawarden
Midfield Asaf Lubezky (2) Sr. Hartford Kfar Shmaryahu, Israel/Yovel Herzlia
Midfield Adam Wallace Sr. Vermont Delta, British Columbia/Delta Secondary
Back Brendan Hankard Jr. New Hampshire Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury
Back Keli Helgason Sr. Vermont Reykjavik, Iceland/V-Hamrahlid
Back Graham Munro Fr. Binghamton Inverness, Scotland/Invergordon
Goalkeeper Bouna Coundol So. Albany Bronx, N.Y./Martin Luther King
Second Team
Forward Stephen Bruce So. Binghamton Buckie, Scotland/Buckie Community
Forward Logan Lee So. New Hampshire Racine, Wis./Washington Park
Forward Steven Procknal Sr. Albany Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville South
Midfield Daniel Florez Jr. Maine Bogota, Columbia/Dean College
Midfield Josh Hareld Jr. New Hampshire North Kingstown, R.I./North Kingstown
Midfield Ethan Hutchins Jr. Vermont Barre, Vt./Spaulding
Midfield Oumar Thiam Jr. Northeastern Thies, Senegal/Northfield Mt. Hermon
Back Greg Chevalier Sr. Albany Central Valley, N.Y./Monroe-Woodbury
Back Erik Evjen (3) So. Boston U. Askim, Norway/St. Olav videregaende
Back Rodrigo Marion So. Albany LaPaz, Bolivia/Felix Eguino Zaballa
Goalkeeper Sergio Saccoccio Fr. Northeastern Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem
All-Rookie Team (11 regardless of position)
Name School Hometown/Last School
Kyle Antos Binghamton Endicott, N.Y./Union Endicott
Neil Beasley Vermont Dublin, Ireland/Chanel
David Downing Northeastern Cape Elizabeth, Maine/Cape Elizabeth
Cooper Friend Maine Ellsworth, Maine/Berkshire School
Tom Heimreid Northeastern Oslo, Norway/Wang
Jamie Johnson Boston University Brisbane, Australia/Cavendish Road
Rodrigo Marion Albany LaPaz, Bolivia/Felix Eguino Zaballa
Eric Masi New Hampshire York, Maine/York
Graham Munro Binghamton Inverness, Scotland/Invergordon
Sergio Saccoccio Northeastern Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem
Chris Scarpati Stony Brook Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East
Offensive Player of the Year: Atha Kirkopoulos, Northeastern
Defensive Player of the Year: Keli Helgasson
Goalkeeper of the Year: Bouna Coundol, Albany
Rookie of the Year: Sergio Saccoccio, Northeastern
Coach of the Year: Ed Matz, Northeastern
(1) first team 2001
(2) first team 2001, 2000, 1999
(3) second team 2001