James, White Earn BIG EAST Men's Soccer Major Awards; Seven Named To All-BIG EAST Teams

BIG EAST SEMIFINALS

Game 1: No. 11 Notre Dame vs. DePaul

Game 2: No. 2 UConn vs. Louisville
Friday, Nov. 16 • 5/7:30 p.m.
Joseph J. Morrone Stadium • Storrs, Conn.

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HARTFORD, Conn. (November 15, 2007) - Julius James (Maloney Gardens, Trinidad) and O'Brian White (Scarborough, Ontario) headlined the list of honorees for the University of Connecticut men's soccer team at the 2007 BIG EAST Banquet Thursday night at the Hilton Hartford. James earned conference Defensive Player of the Year honors for the third-straight season, while White picks up the Offensive Player of the Year trophy. In addition, five other Huskies earned spots on All-BIG EAST teams for their efforts this season.

Toni Stahl (Tuusula, Finland), last year's Rookie of the Year, joins James and White on the All-BIG EAST First Team. Ryan Cordeiro (Highland Mills, N.Y.) and Akeem Priestley (Kingston, Jamaica) took home Second Team honors, while Josh Ford (Liverpool, N.Y.) garnered Third Team recognition and Mike Pezza (Jackson, N.J.) earned a spot on the honorable mention squad.

James is UConn's second three-year recipient of the Defensive Player of the Year award, following in the footsteps of Chris Gbandi who received it in 1999-2001. He is a two-time NSCAA All-American, a three-time Hermann Trophy candidate, a finalist for the Lowe’s Senior Class Award and the two-time defending BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year. Over the last four years, he has played and started in all 81 games of his career, putting in more minutes than any other field player in that time. In 11 league games, UConn held six opponents scoreless and surrendered just seven goals. Connecticut is second in the league in goals allowed (11), goals against average (0.57) and shutouts (11).

White is tabbed with Offensive Player of the Year honors after being named the 2007 preseason favorite for the award. He led the pack in overall and conference points and goals. White tallied 17 goals and seven assists for 41 points in 19 overall games. In 11 league contests, the junior forward recorded eight goals and three assists for 19 points. White had 11 multiple-point games, five games with two or more goals and he scored five game-winning goals. He notched hat tricks in consecutive games against league opponents Pittsburgh and Providence on Oct. 6 and 10, respectively. White became the first UConn player in program history to tally back-to-back hat tricks and only the second to earn more than one in his career. He was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week five times and earned national recognition on nine different occasions. White is the eighth Connecticut player to earn Offensive Player of the Year honors. He is a three-time All-BIG EAST honoree.

This is the third straight year that UConn has earned more than one Player of the Year award, adding to its league-leading total of 20 selections. In addition, UConn's seven overall honorees were the most of any BIG EAST school since the league expanded to 16 teams in 2005. Prior to that, the Huskies led the way with eight in 1998 and seven in 2002.

The awards were presented on Thursday night at the conference's annual men's soccer awards banquet in Hartford on the eve of the 26th annual BIG EAST Men's Soccer Championship. The event will continue on Friday with semifinal action at 5:00 and 7:30 p.m. at Morrone Stadium on the UConn campus, live on CSTV: College Sports Television.

The awards were presented on Thursday night at the conference’s annual men’s soccer awards banquet in Hartford, Conn., on the eve of the 26th annual BIG EAST Men’s Soccer Championship. The event will continue on Nov. 16 with semifinal action at 5:00 and 7:30 p.m. at Morrone Stadium on the campus of the University of Connecticut, live on CSTV:College Sports Television. This year’s seeds held to form, as DePaul, No. 1 in the Red Division, will face off against Notre Dame, No. 2 in the Blue Division, in the night’s first game. The No. 1 seed in the Blue Division, Connecticut, will take on Louisville, No. 2 in the Red Division, in the nightcap of the doubleheader. The winners advance to Sunday’s championship final at noon, which will be televised by several regional cable outlets.

 

All-BIG EAST First Team

Kenny Anaba, Cincinnati, Sr., F
Eliseo Giusfredi, Seton Hall, Jr., F
*Julius James, Connecticut, Sr., D
*Joseph Lapira, Notre Dame, Sr., F
Ryan Maduro, Providence, Sr., MF
*Ryan Miller, Notre Dame, Sr., MF
Kevon Neaves, USF, So., MF
Toni Stahl, Connecticut, So., MF
Brian Visser, DePaul, Jr., GK
*O’Brian White, Connecticut, Jr., F
Andy Wright, West Virginia, Sr., MF

All-BIG EAST Second Team

Matt Besler, Notre Dame, Jr., D
Chris Cahill, Notre Dame, Sr., GK
Ryan Cordeiro, Connecticut, Sr., MF
Yohance Marshall, USF, Jr., D
Akeem Priestley, Connecticut, Jr., MF
Simon Schoendorf, USF, Jr., MF
Jordan Seabrook, USF, Jr.., F
Mike Seamon, Villanova, So., MF
Jeff Stepan, St. John’s, Sr., D
Dan Stratford, West Virginia, Sr., MF
Hansen Woodruff, Syracuse, So., F

All-BIG EAST Third Team

Bernardo Anor, USF, Fr., MF
Len Coleman, Georgetown, So., D
Phil Edington, Louisville, So., D
Josh Ford, Connecticut, RS-Fr., GK
Jason Landers, St. John’s, Sr., GK
Kurt Martin, Notre Dame, Sr., F
Brayan Martinez, Seton Hall, Fr., MF
Luis Martinez, Syracuse, So., MF
Brad Peetoom, Syracuse, Sr., D
Jack Traynor, Notre Dame, Jr., D
Othaniel Yanez, Louisville, So., MF
 

All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention Team
Matt Armstrong, Notre Dame, Fr., MF
Joel Gustafsson, St. John’s, So., D
Amir Ikner, Cincinnati, Sr., D
Gift Maworere, West Virginia, So., MF
Mike Pezza, Connecticut, So., MF