BOSTON — University of New Hampshire freshman Chris Banks (Westborough, Mass./Westborough) was named the America East Striker of the Year and the Rookie of the Year, while teammate Brian Levey (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) repeats as Goalkeeper of the Year and the Wildcats’ coaching staff led by Rob Thompson earns Coaching Staff of the Year. Michael Palacio (Long Beach, N.Y./Long Beach) of Stony Brook and Zach Kirby (Marietta, Ga./Pope) of Boston University were also named Midfielder and Defender of the Year, respectively. All voting was conducting by the conference’s coaches.
Complete All-Conference Team Breakdown (PDF)
Banks becomes the second-straight player to earn America East Striker and Rookie of the Year awards. The four-time America East Rookie of the Week was the league’s leading scorer during the regular season with 24 points on a league-best 12 goals. He led the Wildcats to a third-place finish, the best mark since 1994.
Levey becomes the first player to win consecutive Goalkeeper of the Year awards and just the second keeper in league history to be honored with the accolade twice. He led the league with nine shutouts in 18 games, including four in America East play, averaging a shutout every other contest. In additon, he boasts a league-best 0.58 goals against average, which is 12th best in the nation and an .866 save percentage, which is 10th-best nationally.
New Hampshire’s coaching staff earns the first-ever America East Coaching Staff of the Year award. Led by 14-year head coach Rob Thompson, the Wildcats finished the regular season in third-place with a league-best 11 overall wins. He’s assisted by Marc Hubbard, who is in his fourth season, and goalkeeper coach Dave Williams, who is in his second season in Durham.
Palacio takes home his first-ever Midfielder of the Year award. The two-time first-team all-conference selection was the coaches’ overwhelming choice for this honor. He ranks second in the league in assists with four and helped the defending-champion Seawolves qualify once again for the America East Championship.
Kirby anchors a defense which has allowed 0.60 goals per game, second in America East and 13th in the nation. The senior also has a goal and an assist for five points.
Banks is joined at forward on the all-conference first team by T.J Gore (Macomb, Mich./Dakota) of Vermont and Kevin Mezzadra (Fallston, Md./Loyola) of UMBC. Gore ranks 10th in the conference in points (11) and assists (3) and earned America East Rookie of the Week on September 18. Mezzadra is second in the conference in points with 20 and goals with nine.
Palacio is joined in the midfield on the first team by Kenniel Martin (Hartford, Conn./Weaver) of Hartford, Neil Hlavaty (Lombard, Ill./Glenbard East) of Boston University and Vermont’s Jordan Crasilneck (Eugene, Ore./Sheldon), a second-team all-conference selection last year. Martin ranks second in the league in points (20) and third in goals (8), and assists (4).
Kirby is joined on defense by Adam Chavez (Endicott, N.Y./Union-Endicott) of Binghamton, which boasts the league’s third-best defense allowing just 0.90 goals per game, and Yahaya Musa (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial) of Stony Brook, who was a second-team all-conference in 2005.
The second team forwards are Yan Gbolo (Newburgh, N.Y./Newburgh Free Academy) of Albany, who was a second team selection last year, Peter Sgueglia (Schenectady, N.Y./Albany) of Binghamton and Petur Sigurdsson (Hafnarfjordur, Iceland/Commercial Coll. of Iceland) of Boston University.
The second-team midfielders are Matt Narode (Glenmont, N.Y./Bethleham Central) and Ibrahim Yusuf (Spring Valley, N.Y./Canisius College) of Binghamton, Steve Gahl (Kensington, Md./Walter Johnson) of Boston University and Panos Georgiadis (Morrisville, Vt./Peoples Academy/St. Lawrence) of Vermont.
Moshe Shalchon (Rishon Lezioh, Israel/Connecticut) of Boston University, New Hampshire’s John Bergqvist (Hollviken, Sweden/Soderskitts), who was a first team all-conference selection last year, and Vermont’s Connor Tobin (Fort Collins, Colo./Fort Collins).
Redshirt-freshman Jason Stenta (Binghamton, N.Y./Chenango Valley) of Binghamton was selected as the second-team goalkeeper. He has registered seven shutouts in 14 games with 44 saves. He was a two-time America East Player of the Week.
The all-rookie team includes Banks, Gore, Stenta, Brian Gordon (Erskine, Renfrewshire (Scotland)/Trinity) of Albany, Richy Dorman (Flintshire, Wales/Hawarden) and Samuel Appiah (Obuasi, Ghana/U. of Ghana) of Boston University, Kevin O’Donnell Shaw (Denny Stirlingshire, Scotland/St. Modans) of Hartford, Andrew Gillis (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall) of UMBC, Oscar Leis (Ozone Park, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) of Stony Brook and Nick Mead (Hinesburg, Vt./Champlain Valley) and Rem Kielman (Hinesburg, Vt./Champlain Valley) of Vermont.
Twenty of the 22 all-conference selections will be vying for the league title at the 2006 America East Men’s Soccer Championship, which gets underway with first-round action on Saturday, October 28.