NEW HAVEN, Conn. - - In leading the Wilmington University men's soccer team to a third place finish in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference regular season standings, five student-athletes have been named All-CACC as the conference office announced the season accolades on Monday morning.
Sophomore point man Lorne Bickley was named First Team All-CACC while junior Abdul Mansaray, sophomore Dimitrios Topouzlis, sophomore Elliot Johnson, and junior Vinny Tasca were named Second Team All-CACC in a vote of the league's 13 head coaches.
The Wildcats finished the regular season 10-5-3 overall, going 9-3 in the CACC in earning the No. 3 seed for the CACC Tournament starting Monday afternoon. The Wildcats host sixth seeded Post University at the WU Athletics Complex with a 2:00 p.m. opening kick in the First Round.
Bickley (St. Helier, Jersey) is a repeat award winner, being named the CACC Rookie of the Year and First Team All-CACC as a freshman as well. He finished in a tie for third in the CACC with 10 goals, adding two assists for 22 points. Two of his 10 goals were game-winners, coming against Felician and Chestnut Hill. His four-goal performance against Felician set a new single game program record for the Wildcats, scoring a hat trick in the first 28 minutes.
Mansaray (London, England), Bickley's counterpart atop the formation, finished the season strong, ending with 10 goals and three assists for 23 points. He led the CACC with five game-winning goals, all coming against CACC opponents. He netted the winner against Holy Family, Nyack, Dominican, Concordia, and Jefferson. He scored at Nyack and against Dominican for a season high. He also had one goal and two assists for four points against Felician.
Topouzlis (Thessaloniki, Greece) was a mainstay in the midfield for the Wildcats before an injury sidelined him for the final three games. One of the most consistent players for the Wildcats all season long, Topouzlis dished out assists against Millersville, Felician, NYIT, and Dominican, while routinely playing against team's best offensive players.
Another stout defender, Johnson (Essex, England) also missed substantial time due to an injury. But since returning for the final six games of the year, he has anchored a defense that has only allowed two goals during that stretch. Four of his nine games played have resulted in a shutout. He also added an assist from the back line against Dominican.
Tasca (Audubon, Pa.) has been the ultimate anchor of the Wildcats' defense this year. He has possibly the most consistent player for the Wildcats, resulting in leading the CACC in three out of the four major goalkeeper categories. He leads the CACC with a .823 save percentage, 14 goals against, and a 0.83 goals against average. He has six shutouts on the year, five of which came against CACC opponents. Tasca ended the regular season not allowing a goal in 392:58 consecutive minutes, dating back to the 58th minute against Dominican on October 7, posting four straight shutouts.
Jefferson's Seiji Rose was voted as the CACC Player of the Year while Bloomfield's Regsan Watkins picked up the CACC Rookie of the Year award. Jefferson's Pedro Neto was named the CACC Defensive Player of the Year while Goldey-Beacom's Suail Bismilla was voted as the CACC Goalkeeper of the Year.
The conference's sports information directors voted Jefferson's skipper Ptah Myers as the CACC Coach of the Year while Nyack College was award the CACC Team Sportsmanship Award.
AGATE:
2017 All-CACC Men's Soccer Teams
First Team:
F – Chahin Aghrim (Goldey-Beacom College)
F – Lorne Bickley (Wilmington University)
F – Finn Reese (Nyack College)
F – Regsan Watkins (Bloomfield College)
M – Pedro Neto (Thomas Jefferson University)
M – Jason Rocha (Thomas Jefferson University)
M – Mateus Silvestre (Goldey-Beacom College)
D – Declyn Brown (Goldey-Beacom College)
D – Matteo Moro (Post University)
D – Seiji Rose (Thomas Jefferson University)
GK – Suhail Bismilla (Goldey-Beacom College)
Second Team:
F – Nicholas Calabia (Bloomfield College)
F – Sergio Diaz (Post University)
F – Abdul Mansaray (Wilmington University)
M – Francois Legoedec (Nyack College)
M – Maxi Ojeda (Felician University)
M – Dimitrios Topouzlis (Wilmington University)
D – William Baah (Bloomfield College)
D – Jonathan Firmino (Georgian Court University)
D – Elliot Johnson (Wilmington University)
GK – Jaime Gonzalez (Concordia College)
GK – Vinny Tasca (Wilmington University)
2017 CACC Player of the Year: Seiji Rose (Jefferson University)
2017 CACC Rookie of the Year: Regsan Watkins (Bloomfield College)
2017 CACC Defensive Player of the Year: Pedro Neto (Jefferson University)
2017 CACC Goalkeeper of the Year: Suhail Bismilla (Goldey-Beacom College)
2017 CACC Coach of the Year: Ptah Myers (Thomas Jefferson University)
2017 CACC Team Sportsmanship Award: Nyack College