BOSTON — Five different teams took home major awards as the 2015 America East men’s soccer annual hardware was announced Friday afternoon. Awards were voted on by the league’s head coaches, who could not vote for their own team.
The Great Danes, who claimed their first-ever outright America East regular-season title and top seed for the upcoming conference championship, earned a pair of major awards. Sophomore Afonso Pinheiro was voted Striker of the Year while Albany’s coaching staff, led by head coach Trevor Gorman, was tabbed Coaching Staff of the Year. New Hampshire’s Chris Wingate earned Midfielder of the Year accolades, while UMBC’s Malcom Harris was chosen Defender of the Year and Binghamton netminder Robert Moewes was selected Goalkeeper of the Year. Stony Brook’s Serge Gamwanya was named Rookie of the Year to round out the major award winners.
Coaching Staff of the Year
University at Albany (Head Coach, Trevor Gorman)
- Led Albany to its second-ever America East regular-season title (2004) and first outright championship.
- Will be the No. 1 seed for the America East Championship for the first time.
- The Great Danes’ 10 wins are their most since 2008.
- Won five straight league games after an 0-2 start.
Striker of the Year
Afonso Pinheiro, So., Albany
- Leads the league in points (26), points per game (1.44), goals (11) and goals per game (0.61).
- Has four game-winning goals.
- Scored four goals and added four assists in seven conference games.
- Is Albany’s second-ever Striker of the Year and first since 2008.
Midfielder of the Year
Chris Wingate, Sr., New Hampshire
- Is the first ever Wildcat to win Midfielder of the Year.
- Ranks fifth in the conference with 16 points.
- Heads up a Wildcat attack that leads the league averaging 1.67 goals per game.
- Led UNH to a six-win improvement from 2014.
Defender of the Year
Malcom Harris, Sr., UMBC
- Is the fourth straight Retriever to earn Defender of the Year honors.
- Heads up a UMBC defense that leads the league with a 0.85 team goals against average.
- UMBC has seven shutouts in 18 games this season and not allowed a goal in each of its last three games.
Goalkeeper of the Year
Robert Moewes, Jr., Binghamton
- The 2014 Goalkeeper of the Year, Moewes is just the third player to win consecutive Goalkeeper of the Year honors.
- Ranks second averaging 4.47 saves per game.
- Has a 1.20 save percentage and a .784 save percentage.
- Is also the first-team All-Conference goalkeeper.
Rookie of the Year
Serge Gamwanya, Fr., Stony Brook
- Is Stony Brook’s second-ever Rookie of the Year and first since 2009.
- Tied for sixth in the conference with six points in conference play.
- Second among rookies with 11 points on season.
- Also a second-team All-Conference selection.
Joining Pinheiro as a first-team All-Conference forward is UMass Lowell’s Wuilito Fernandes and Vermont’s Brian Wright, who ranks second in the league with 22 points. With Wingate at first-team forward is Albany’s Philip Persson, Binghamton’s Pascal Trappe and UMBC’s Gregg Hauck. Harris is joined by Albany’s Keith Traut and Binghamton’s Zach Galluzzo as the first-team back.
Hartford’s Javoni Simms and Stony Brook’s Vince Erdei and Martin Giordano are the second-team forwards. Gamwanya is joined on the second-team midfield by UMBC’s Michael Scott, New Hampshire’s Fazal Nabi and Vermont’s Stefan Lamana. Albany’s Bernardo Mattos and New Hampshire’s Andrew Chaput and Lukas Goerigk are the second-team backs. UMBC’s Billy Heavner is the second-team goalkeeper.
Gamwanya leads the All-Rookie team and is accompanied by Albany’s Carlos Clark, Binghamton’s Kevin Flesch and Harrison Weilbacher, Hartford’s Andri Jonasson and Mikkel Song, UMBC’s Patrick Jean-Gilles and Kyle Sanderson, UMass Lowell’s Edward Venta-Yepes, New Hampshire’s Chris Arling and Stony Brook’s Serge Gamwanya and Martieon Watson.
Erdei, Giordano, Heavner, Moewes, Scott and Traut were also All-Academic honorees and joined by Albany’s Martin Gorrie, Hartford’s Blake Jones, Anthony LoBello and David MacKinnon, Stony Brook’s Alejandro Fritz and Vermont’s Jackson Dayton. To be eligible for All-Academic, student-athletes must have sophomore athletic eligibility, attain a 3.30 minimum grade-point average and be a significant contributor athletically. The team is voted on by a committee made up of America East student-athlete support and athletic communications administrators as well as faculty athletic representatives.