CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - It was a strong week for America East men's soccer as the league had a win over a ranked opponent early in the week and combined to go 9-5-1 since Thursday. A pair of players that contributed to that success are America East's weekly award winners for the week ending Sept. 3. The recipients were announced Tuesday morning.
UMBC's Pete Caringi III led his team to a win and a tie to earn Player of the Week honors, while University at Albany's Anthony Rozzano tallied five points in a pair of victories to take home Rookie of the Week accolades.
Caringi (Perry Hall, Md.) scored all three of UMBC's goals last week en route to receiving Player of the Week honors for the first time. The junior striker, a two-time America East all-conference selection including a first-team choice last season, tallied his first goal of the year in the 32nd minute of the Retrievers' 1-1 tie against VCU on Thursday. He then scored twice, with the goals coming less than seven minutes apart, in a 2-1 win over Robert Morris on Saturday. Caringi's first goal, which came at the 16:28 mark of the first half, was headed in off a corner kick, while his second, which followed just 6:52 later, came off Milo Kapor's cross from the left side. It was the second career multi-goal game for Caringi, who has 13 scores in 41 career games.
Rozzano (Webster, N.Y.) scored a pair of goals and added an assist in two Albany wins last week to garner Rookie of the Week accolades. The freshman midfielder set up his team's first goal in a 3-2 overtime win against Towson on Saturday, which would not have happened without his score in the 65th minute that tied the game 2-2. Rozzano then added an insurance goal in the waning minutes of Monday's 2-0 win over Yale.
In addition to Albany, Binghamton and Hartford picked up two wins over the weekend. The Bearcats beat Buffalo, 2-0, on Friday and Army, 2-1, on Monday behind two goals and two assists from Jake Keegan. The Hawks disposed of Fordham, 1-0, on Friday and Central Connecticut State, 2-1 in overtime, on Monday. Stony Brook (1-0 over Lehigh Friday) and UNH (2-1 over Penn Sunday) also won games over the weekend. Earlier in the week, Boston University knocked off 11th-ranked Boston College 1-0.
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)
Sept. 4 - Player of the Week: Pete Caringi III (UMBC); Rookie of the Week: Anthony Rozzano (Albany)