GANSEVOORT, N.Y. – The SUNYIT Men's Soccer Team (15-1-1, 7-1 NEAC) just missed a clean sweep of the major awards announced by the NEAC Conference on Wednesday. Goalkeeper Malick Faye (Bronx, N.Y. / MLK) won Goalkeeper of the Year for an incredible 4th-consecutive year, and was also named the conference's Player of the Year – the second time in his career he has earned that distinction. Faye is currently in the midst of his finest season yet, as he leads the conference in save percentage, while being ranked 2nd nationally in the category.
Also adding to his trophy case was SUNYIT head coach Peterson Jerome. Jerome, in his 11th season with the Wildcats, picked up his 3rd NEAC Coach of the Year honor – all of which have come in the last 4 seasons. Over that time period, SUNYIT boasts a record of 44-20-8, and the Wildcats mark of 15-1-1 this season set program records for most wins in a season and best winning percentage. In addition, SUNYIT has maintained a top-10 regional ranking as voted on by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) for most of the season, and are currently 5th.
Wednesday's accolades confirmed what SUNYIT fans already knew: this year's Wildcat team is deep. Seven members of the team were named to an All-Conference Team, with the 11-member 1st Team featuring a whopping 5 Wildcats.
Joining Faye on the 1st Team was senior teammate and conference leader in points, goals, game-winning goals, and assists Diego Montaleza (New York, N.Y. / MLK). Montaleza, who earlier in the year became SUNYIT's all-time career leader in goals, joined Faye in having his finest season yet, scoring 12 goals and dishing out 6 assists on the year.
The other two seniors to make the All-Conference 1st Team were midfielder Kurreem Williams (Mt. Vernon, N.Y. / TCI) and forward Josh Kimber (Chittenango, N.Y. / Chittenango). Kimber moved up to the 1st Team after a 3rd Team selection a season ago, while Williams's strong presence in the middle for the Wildcats in 2013 made him a clear 1st-Team selection.
Finally, junior-transfer and first-year Wildcat Brett Gruener (Ballston Spa, N.Y. / Ballston Spa) joined Faye in representing the Wildcats' vaunted defense on the All-Conference 1st Team. Gruener helped lead a young SUNYIT defense through a season in which the Wildcats allowed a total of only 6 goals, only 3 of which occurred during conference games.
Also representing the defense were senior Aaron Minnamon (Palmyra, N.Y. / Palmyra) and freshman Bryan Kilpatrick (Endicott, N.Y. / Union Endicott), who were each named to the All-Conference 2nd team. It was the first selection for each player.
Wildcat players, along with the rest of the league's all-conference winners, will receive their awards in a ceremony to take place between the first and second NEAC Championship Semifinal games on Saturday. The first game, between the #1-seeded Wildcats and #4-seeded Cazenovia, is scheduled to take place at 11:30 am on Wildcat Field at SUNYIT, while the second game between #2-seed Penn State Abington and #3 Morrisville State is slated to begin at 2:00 pm.
To view the full NEAC All-Conference press release, click here.