Men’s Soccer Sweeps NECC Major Awards, Six Named All-NECC

MANSFIELD, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College men's soccer team hauled in four New England Collegiate Conference end-of-season awards while six student-athletes earned All-NECC honors, announced the league office Tuesday.

Senior Bryan Vargas (San Jose, Costa Rica) repeated as the NECC Player of the Year. Junior Pablo Velazquez (Barrameda, Spain) was tabbed the NECC Defensive Player of the Year while freshman Clide Neau (Easton, Mass.) was selected as the NECC Rookie of the Year. Head coach Freddy Perez was voted the NECC Coach of the Year in his first season at the helm.

Joaquin Ferraro (Seville, Spain), Jorge Gonzalez (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain), and Antonio Soto Valente (Maracaibo, Venezuela) joined Neau, Vargas, and Velazquez on the All-NECC team while Josiah Milord (Randolph, Mass.) was named to the Del Malloy Sportsmanship Team.

Vargas leads the Lions with seven goals while ranking third on the team with 16 points. In NECC competition, he registered three goals and one assist. Vargas is one of just two players to start all 17 matches for Eastern Nazarene this season.

Velazquez has appeared in 14 games this fall and has started 13 matches. He has started all six conference contests while anchoring the Lions' defensive unit that surrendered just one goal in league action.

Neau paced the conference with 20 points on the season, scoring seven goals and adding six assists. In league play, the rookie tallied three goals and dished out five assists.

Ferraro leads the NECC with eight assists on the fall while also notching five goals. The senior netting five goals and five assists in conference action.

Gonzalez has seen action in 15 games while making 12 starts and tallying one goal. He appeared in four conference tilts this fall and started two games.

Soto Valente has started eight matches in goal and owns a 3-3-1 record with three shutouts. In league play, he started four contests and posted a 0.00 goals-against average with 17 saves.

Milord came off the bench in nine games this season and contributed a pair of goals.

Perez guided the Lions to a 6-6-5 overall record and a 5-0-1 mark in league action in his first season. Eastern Nazarene claimed the NECC regular-season title and No. 1 seed in the NECC Tournament for the second-straight year.

The top-seeded Lions will host No. 4 seed Lesley in the NECC semifinals November 2.