Men's Soccer's Diego Tabares Named 2011 Daktronics East Region Player of the Year
Posted: Nov 15, 2011

Men's Soccer's Diego Tabares Named 2011 Daktronics East Region Player of the Year

Marks the second-straight year a Raven takes home both the NE-10 and Daktronics East Region Player-of-the-Year awards

RINDGE, N.H. (November 15, 2011) -- The honors continued to pile up for Franklin Pierce University men's soccer standout Diego Tabares (Seekonk, Mass.) on Tuesday as the senior midfielder was named the 2011 Daktronics East Region Player of the Year. The announcement came just two weeks after Tabares was awarded with the same honor from the Northeast-10 Conference.

By being named the organization's player of the year, Tabares was also placed on the Daktronics All-East Region First-Team. He was joined on the first-team by fellow Raven seniors Tom Reilly (Wallasey, England) and Vinny Papageorgiou (Wilmington, Mass.). The trio will now move on for consideration for the Daktronics All-America Team, which will be announced in early December. 

Tabares' honor marked the second-straight year a Raven swept the NE-10 and East Region player-of-the-year awards as Reilly also turned the trick in 2010. 

Tabares has started all 21 matches this season and currently leads Franklin Pierce in goals (9), points (22) and shots (72), while also ranking among the top-five in the NE-10 in all three categories. He has scored a pair of match-winning goals and ranks among the conference leaders in that category as well. Tabares put together a streak of seven-consecutive matches logging at least one point during the midway portion of the season, including producing multiple points in five of those contests. His strongest outing during that stretch was a two-goal performance in a 3-1 win at Southern Connecticut State on Oct. 5.

Tabares has been recognized by Daktronics in the past as he was named to the organization's All-East Region First-Team last year and then moved onto being named a Third-Team All-American. 

Reilly earned Daktronics All-East Region First-Team honors for the second-straight year as well. He has been the anchor for the Franklin Pierce defensive unit this season as the Ravens rank among the national leaders in multiple categories, including team goals against average (4th, 0.51), sixth in shutout percentage (6th, 0.57) and save percentage (8th, 84.1%). Reilly has helped Franklin Pierce produce 12 shutouts this season, including in each of the four post-season matches so far. 

Reilly has also been a contributor on the offensive end by scoring three goals this year and notching an assist in Saturday's 5-0 win over St. Thomas Aquinas in the second round of the NCAA Division II Tournament. After claiming all-East honors from Daktronics last season, Reilly went onto earn First-Team All-America honors from the organization.

Papageorgiou also joins Tabares and Reilly as Ravens being named to the all-East first-team in back-to-back years. Papageorgiou has been one of the finest goalkeepers in the nation this season as he has compiled a 20-0-1 record with an .841 save percentage, a 0.51 goals against average and 12 shutouts. He ranks fourth nationally in goals against average and ninth in save percentage. 

After claiming all-East honors from Daktronics last season, Papageorgiou went onto becoming a Third-Team All-American as named by the organization. It marked the first All-America honor of his career.

A fourth Raven was also honored by Daktronics on Tuesday as senior forward Victor Goncalves (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) was named to the organization's All-East Region Second-Team. It marked the fourth time in as many seasons Goncalves earned a spot on the region's second-team. Goncalves has scored six goals and assisted on four others for 16 points this season.

The Ravens, ranked No. 2 in the NSCAA Division II National Top-25 Poll, continue post-season play on Saturday night when they play host to 14th-ranked Southern New Hampshire in the NCAA quarterfinals at 7 p.m. in Sodexo Field. The winner of Saturday's will punch its ticket to the Division II Final Four, which will be held Dec. 1-3 in Pensacola, Fla. Franklin Pierce is seeking its fourth trip to the national semifinals in program history and would join the 1991, 2005 and 2007 squads as the only ones to accomplish the feat.

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).