Men's College Soccer
4 Broncs Honored by MAAC
13 Broncs All-Academic
HAMDEN, CT—16 members of the Rider University men's soccer team were honored at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship tournament banquet Thursday evening.
Junior Florian Valot (Monaco, France) was named the MAAC Rookie of the Year and was also named to the First Team All-MAAC as well as the MAAC All-Rookie team. Playing his first season of college soccer in the United States, Valot ranked fifth in the MAAC in scoring with seven goals and was sixth in the conference with four assists and 18 points.
Joining Valot on the First Team was sophomore Christian Flath (Bargeshagen, Germany), who was one of just two unanimous selections, and junior Sonimi Halliday (Sicklerville, NJ/Timber Creek).
Flath, who was also named to the MAAC All-Academic team, ranks second in the MAAC in points (22) and third in goals (9). Flath was the MAAC Rookie of the Year last year and was a First Team All-MAAC selection.
A defender, Halliday started 17 games this year. Halliday was a Second Team All-MAAC selection last year.
Rider freshman Jose Aguinaga (Madrid, Spain) was named to the MAAC All-Rookie team.
Aguinaga led Rider in assists (5) and ranked fourth on the team in points (11) and fifth in goals (3).
“It is a great honor for all of our guys who were recognized by the league coaches,” said Rider head coach Charlie Inverso. “We are a team and I am sure the first thing all of them would do would be to recognize their teammates as part of their success. We are proud and happy for all four of these guys who work very hard and are great guys as well.”
Also named to the MAAC All-Academic team were senior Ryan Walsh (Chesterfield, NJ/Northern Burlington Regional), senior Justin Gregory (Wall, NJ/Brookdale CC), junior Robert Kroschwitz (Pipersville, PA/Palisades), sophomore Zach Bond (Holmdel, NJ), junior Devon Downs (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert), sophomore Matt Fryc (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial), sophomore Adrien Huss (Madrid, Spain), sophomore Rob Nardiello (Torquay, England), sophomore Travis Nitti (Fort Lee, NJ/Bergen Catholic), sophomore David Pastuna (Robbinsville, NJ), sophomore Jimmy Quilter (South Brunswick, NJ) and sophomore Dean Stephan (Millstone, NJ/Notre Dame).
To be named to the MAAC All-Academic team the player must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.2 or better.
The Rider men's soccer team (9-7-2) enjoyed its best season in 16 years. The Broncs were picked to finish eighth in the 11-team MAAC and finished third and led the entire nation with 40 goals scored during the regular season.
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