CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The 2012 America East men's soccer got underway over the weekend and two players who led their teams to victories are the season's first weekly award winners, which were announced Monday morning.
University of Vermont's Scott Kisling is the Player of the Week while Stony Brook University's Alejandro Fritz is the Rookie of the Week. The duo led their respective teams to wins over Rhode Island and Fairleigh Dickinson.
Kisling (Colorado Springs, Colo.) scored the lone goal and second of his career in the Catamounts' 1-0 victory over URI on Saturday as they opened up virtue Field (Highlights). The junior headed home a throw-in from teammate Sean Sweeney in the 18th minute. Kisling, a defender, was also instrumental in helping his goal hold up as UVM was forced to play a man down for the entire second half following a red card and still held the Rams scoreless.
Fritz (Budapest, Hungary) netted the game-winning score in his first collegiate game as he found the back of the net in the game's opening minutes of Stony Brook's 5-0 win over Fairleigh Dickinson Friday. The freshman midfielder connected on his first shot as a Seawolf, chesting down a headed ball and blasting it home in the eighth minute. The score was the first of five for Stony Brook, which tied the program record for goals in a game.
stony Brook's win over Fairleigh Dickinson, which finished with an RPI of 56 last year, was one of two impressive wins for America East teams over the Weekend. University of New Hampshire's Jordan Thomas broke a scoreless tie with Michigan State in double-overtime Sunday, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 win over the Spartans, who were 67th in the RPI last year. Elsewhere, UMBC played Radford to a scoreless tie thanks to seven saves by Phil Saunders. University at Albany, Binghamton University, Boston University and University of Hartford all dropped their season openers.
2012 America East Men's Soccer Weekly Award Winners
Aug. 27 - Player of the Week: Scott Kisling (Vermont); Rookie of the Week: Alejandro Fritz (Stony Brook)