NEW YORK – The six teams that have advanced to the 2015 BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Championship were heavily represented amongst the All-BIG EAST honors and major awards that were announced by the conference on Friday. Identical to last year, 21 of the 23 All-BIG EAST performers will be competing in the BIG EAST Championship that starts Sunday with a pair of first-round games. Eight of the 11 All-BIG EAST Freshman Team members are on the top six teams competing for the conference crown.
Five of the six BIG EAST Championship teams are represented on the All-BIG EAST First Team.
Three teams combined for the six major awards, with a split vote for the BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year. Creighton junior Fabian Herbers was unanimously picked for the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. Also a repeat pick from 2014, Herbers’ teammate Timo Pitter was tabbed the BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year. Creighton’s senior keeper Connor Sparrow split Goalkeeper of the Year honors with Xavier senior Dallas Jaye.
In addition to a league-best eight student-athletes on the All-BIG EAST teams with four on the first team and four on the second team, top-seeded Georgetown collected three major awards. Junior defender Joshua Yaro was a unanimous pick by the coaches for BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year. Yaro is another repeat selection from last year. Goalkeeper JT Marcinkowski was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. Led by Brian Wiese, the Georgetown Hoyas were named BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year after an undefeated 9-0-0 record earned them the top seed.
Weise and his staff led a Hoya team who struggled a bit at the beginning to a 11-game winning streak and a 14-game unbeaten streak that dates back to Sept. 7, when the Hoyas upset then-No. 1 UCLA 3-1. The Hoyas steadily climbed the national polls to their current No. 6 ranking, defeating five other teams in the top 25 on their way. Georgetown won the BIG EAST regular season title for the fifth time in program history with the last coming in 2013 and the last outright championship coming during the 2010 campaign. It is the fourth under Hoya head coach Brian Wiese. The last time a team went a perfect 9-0-0 during the BIG EAST Regular Season was the University of Louisville in 2009.
Creighton’s Herbers leads the country in points with 40 for the year. He also leads the nation in total assists (12) and is second in points per game (2.22) and third in total goals (14) and assists per game (0.67). His teammate Pitter was second behind Herbers in scoring for the Bluejays with seven goals and three assists for 17 points. Both Herbers and Pitter were tabbed to the All-BIG EAST First Team.
Georgetown’s Yaro helped the Hoyas to six-straight shutouts in the middle of the season and was named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 26. Since the streak ended, Yaro and the Hoya defense have only allowed four goals. Yaro was also a unanimous All-BIG EAST First Team selection.
Teammate Marcinkowski, who leads the league in conference play for shutouts (6) and goals against average (0.44) also earned All-BIG EAST First Team and was a unanimous selection to the BIG EAST All-Freshman team. Nationally, he ranked third behind Jaye and Sparrow in GAA (0.748). Marcinkowski finished the regular season with a 13-2-2 record with seven total shutouts.
Sparrow was in goal for Creighton’s eight-week run as the top team in the country. He went 16-2 in goal for the Bluejays with a 9 total shutouts, eight on his own. He totaled 35 saves for the year. Jaye finished the regular season eighth in the country for goals against average (.568) and seventh in save percentage (.851) leading the league in both. Jaye posted an 8-2-1 record with seven total shutouts, one shared. Jaye was named to the All-BIG EAST First Team, while Sparrow earned second team accolades.
Herbers and Yaro, along with Georgetown senior forward Brandon Allen and Providence junior forward Mac Steeves were the four unanimous selections to the All-BIG EAST First team.
Also on the All-BIG EAST First Team, were senior midfielder Vincent Mitchell from Butler, who was second behind Herbers in points per game with 1.75, midfielder Sean Sheridan from Villanova, sophomore midfielder Arun Basuljevic from Georgetown, sophomore defender Cory Brown from Xavier and senior defender Vincent Keller from Creighton.
The first team contains five performers who are on the watch list for the 015 Missouri Athletic Club’s (MAC) Hermann Trophy: Herbers, Yaro, Allen, Pitter and Brown.
On the second team, Georgetown had three players selected with Butler close behind with three. Creighton, DePaul, Providence and Marquette each had two.
BIG EAST Co-Goalkeeper of the Year, Sparrow, headlines the All-BIG EAST Second Team, which also includes Georgetown’s Alex Muyl, Joshua Turnley, Keegan Rosenberry and Cole Seiler; Butler’s David Goldsmith, Caleb Postelwait and keeper Eric Dick; DePaul’s Simon Megally, Marquette’s Louis Bennett II and Providence’s Julian Gressel.
Unanimous selections to the BIG EAST All-Freshman Team were Marcinkowski, Butler’s Marco Charalambous (midfielder), Seton Hall’s Alex Pozesky (midfielder), St. John’s Mike Prosuk (forward) and Creighton’s Joel Rydstrand (midfielder).
Also on the All-Freshman Team were Brendan Constantine (Providence), Tiago Mendonca (Providence), Ruben Sanchez (Marquette), Jake Scheper (DePaul), Klisman Sousa (Providence), Jared Timmer (Butler) and Zach Zandi (Villanova).
Due to ties in voting, there were 12 student-athletes selected to both the All-BIG EAST First Team, which includes three forwards, three midfielders, three defenders, a goalkeeper and an at-large player, and the All-BIG EAST Freshman Team, which is non-positional.
Coaches were not allowed to vote from their own players.
2015 Men’s Soccer All-BIG EAST Team and Major Awards
BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year
Fabian Herbers, Creighton, Jr., M/F *
BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year
Timo Pitter, Creighton, Sr., F/M
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year
Joshua Yaro, Georgetown, Jr., D*
BIG EAST Co-Goalkeepers of the Year
Dallas Jaye, Xavier, R-Sr.
Connor Sparrow, Creighton, Sr.
BIG EAST Freshman of the Year
JT Marcinkowski, Georgetown, Fr., GK
BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year
Georgetown
All-BIG EAST First Team^
Dallas Jaye, Xavier, R-Sr., GK
JT Marcinkowski, Georgetown, Fr., GK
Fabian Herbers, Creighton, Jr., F*
Brandon Allen, Georgetown, Sr., F*
Mac Steeves, Providence, Jr., F*
Vincent Mitchell, Butler, Sr., M
Timo Pitter, Creighton, Sr., M
Sean Sheridan, Villanova, Sr., M
Arun Basuljevic, Georgetown, So., M
Joshua Yaro, Georgetown, Jr., D*
Cory Brown, Xavier, So., D
Vincent Keller, Creighton, Sr., D
All-BIG EAST Second Team
Connor Sparrow, Creighton, Sr., GK
Eric Dick, Butler, RS-So., GK
Alex Muyl, Georgetown, Jr., F
David Goldsmith, Butler, Jr., F
Simon Megally, DePaul, Jr., F
Louis Bennett II, Marquette, Jr., M
Julian Gressel, Providence, Jr., M
Caleb Postlewait, Butler, Sr., M
Joshua Turnley, Georgetown, Sr., M/D
Keegan Rosenberry, Georgetown, Sr., M/D
Cole Seiler, Georgetown, Sr., D
All-Freshman Team^^
(listed alphabetically)
Marco Charalambous, Butler, RS-Fr., M *
Brendan Constantine, Providence, Fr., M
JT Marcinkowski, Georgetown, Fr., GK *
Tiago Mendonca, Providence, Fr., M
Alex Pozesky, Seton Hall, Fr., M *
Mike Prosuk, St. John’s, Fr., F *
Joel Rydstrand, Creighton, Fr., M *
Ruben Sanchez, Marquette, Fr., D
Jake Scheper, DePaul, Fr., M
Klisman Sousa, Providence, RS-Fr., M
Jared Timmer, Butler, Fr., M
Zach Zandi, Villanova, Fr., M
*-denotes a unanimous selection
^-due to a tie in voting there is a 12-member All-BIG EAST First Team
^^-due to a tie in voting there is a 12-member All-BIG EAST Freshman Team