Diego Tabares, Tom Reilly, Vinny Papageorgiou Earn Major NE-10 Men's Soccer Player-of-the-Year Awards
Franklin Pierce has now garnered 15 conference player-of-the-year awards since 2004
RINDGE, N.H. (November 3, 2011) – The Franklin
Pierce University men’s soccer team’s unbeaten regular
season has translated into a trio of major awards from the
Northeast-10 Conference. The league announced on Thursday morning
that senior midfielder Diego Tabares (Seekonk,
Mass.) was named the NE-10 Player of the Year, while
senior back Tom Reilly (Wallasey, England) was
named the Defensive Player of the Year, and senior goalkeeper
Vinny Papageorgiou (Wilmington, Mass.) was
selected as the Goalkeeper of the Year.
The trio was joined by six other Ravens who earned all-conference honors, including: senior forward Victor Goncalves (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) who was placed on the All-NE-10 First-Team; senior midfielder Paul Latif (Newcastle, England) who was slotted on the second-team; freshman midfielder Tom Wampler (Attleboro, Mass.) who was named to the second-team and all-rookie team; graduate back Daniel Donaldson (Moenchengladbach, Germany) who was picked for the second-team; junior back Tyler Rosa (Rehoboth, Mass.) who was selected to the third-team; and freshman back Trent Roy (Stratham, N.H.) who was named to the all-rookie team.
The three major awards won by Tabares, Reilly and Papageorgiou mark the 20th, 21st and 22nd conference player-of-the-year awards in program history. Fifteen (15) of those have come since the 2004 season.
Tabares collected the year’s top honor after putting together
an all-around impressive senior season. He has started all 18
matches this season, while totaling nine goals and four assists for
22 points, including scoring a pair of match-winning goals. Tabares
put together a streak of seven-consecutive matches logging at least
one point during the midway point of the season, including
producing multiple points in five of those contests. His strongest
outing during that streak was a two-goal performance in a 3-1 win
at Southern Connecticut State on Oct. 5.
Tabares ranks among the league leaders in several categories, including: tied for third in goals (9); tied for third in points (22); third in shots (66); third in shots on goal (33); and tied for 12th in game-winning goals (2).
Tabares becomes the seventh player in program history to be named a conference player of the year. It also marks the second-straight year Franklin Pierce brought home the league’s top award as Reilly picked up the honor in 2010. Those two players, along with head coach Craig Stewart, share the same title as player of the year as Stewart picked up the award in 2004 during his senior campaign in Rindge.
After picking up last year’s player-of-the-year honor, Reilly earned the defensive player-of-the-year award this season. He became just the fourth player in program history to earn a major, year-end conference award in multiple seasons.
Reilly has anchored a Franklin Pierce defensive unit which is one
of the best in the NE-10 and the nation. The Ravens rank
10th nationally in team goals against average (0.63),
21st in shutout percentage (0.47) and 16th in
save percentage (.828). Overall, Franklin Pierce has posted nine
shutouts this season. Reilly has also contributed offensively this
season as he has scored three goals for six points.
Papageorgiou is the second Raven in program history to earn the conference’s goalkeeper-of-the-year award, joining former standout James Thorpe, who took home the honor four-straight years from 2004-07.
Papageorgiou has had an outstanding season in net in 2011 as he has produced a 17-0-1 record with a 0.63 goals against average, an .828 save percentage and nine shutouts. He ranks sixth in the nation in goals against average and 16th in save percentage. Papageorgiou recorded four-consecutive shutouts from Sept. 20 to Oct. 1 during the midway point of the season, and has produced four shutouts over the last six matches for Franklin Pierce. He has made at least five saves in six matches this season.
By earning those player-of-the-year awards, Tabares, Reilly and Papageorgiou each earned a spot on the All-NE-10 First-Team. Tabares and Reilly were named to the first-team for the second-straight year, while Papageorgiou picked up the honor for the first time in his career.
Goncalves joined those three on the first-team after putting together a strong offensive season for the Ravens. It marked the third NE-10 first-team honor in his career, while also ensuring him an all-conference accolade in each of his four collegiate seasons (also earned second-team honors in 2010).
Goncalves scored six goals and assisted on four others for 16
points this season. He came up big in several matches as he scored
four match-winning goals. Goncalves had a string of four-straight
matches in the middle portion of the season where he logged at
least a point to help spark the Ravens offensive attack. He scored
both Franklin Pierce goals in a 2-0 triumph over Stonehill on Sept.
24 in Rindge.
Latif was named to the second-team, thus marking the second-straight year he garnered all-conference accolades. Latif produced two goals (both match winners) and five assists for nine points. His game-winning goals came against Bloomfield (Sept. 2) and at Merrimack (Oct. 11).
Wampler earned a spot on the second-team after having a fine rookie season in Rindge. He has been on a hot streak, offensively, over the past two weeks, scoring two goals and assisting on three others for seven points during that stretch. He has been named the league’s rookie of the week twice, which is tied for the most honors in the conference this season. Wampler was also named to the NE-10 All-Rookie Team for his efforts.
Donaldson came to Franklin Pierce prior to this season and has been a steady contributor both offensively and defensively for the Ravens. He scored two goals to spark Franklin Pierce in its 4-0 win over Stonehill on Tuesday night in the NE-10 quarterfinals. He has also anchored the back end for Franklin Pierce as it ranks among the national leaders in several defensive categories.
Rosa was placed on the third-team after being one of the contributors to Franklin Pierce’s defensive unit this season. He has started 17 of the 18 matches this season and has a goal and an assist for three points.
Roy was named to the all-rookie team after he scored three goals and assisted on one more for seven points this season. He was named the NE-10 rookie of the week on Oct. 24 after scoring the match-winner in Franklin Pierce’s 1-0 triumph over Assumption.
Franklin Pierce returns to action Friday when the Ravens play host to Le Moyne in the NE-10 semifinals at Sodexo Field in Rindge. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. The Ravens are the top-seed in the tournament after claiming the league’s regular season title for the second-consecutive year.
For more information on Franklin Pierce men’s soccer, please visit the team’s page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).