HADLEY, Mass. - Williams senior midfielder Patrick Huffer (Boulder,
Colo.) has been named the 2006 NESCAC Player of the Year. Huffer
has helped lead the Ephs to a 13-1-1 overall record so far this
season along with the 2006 NESCAC Men’s Soccer Championship,
the fifth title for Williams in the past six years. He joins a
growing list of former Ephs that have won the annual award, as
Player of the Year honors have been bestowed upon an Eph player in
each of the last seven years.
Huffer is on pace to lead the Ephs in scoring for the second year
in a row, having already surpassed last season’s totals in
less time. After a 2005 campaign that saw him score 11 goals and
three assists in 19 starts, Huffer has collected a league-best 14
goals through 15 games this fall, adding in two assists for a
team-leading 30 points. In addition to being named the NESCAC
Player of the Year, Huffer also earned a spot on the 2006 NESCAC
All-Conference First Team, the second year in a row that he has
received First Team recognition.
A total of four forwards were selected as part of the 11-member
All-Conference First Team. Amherst senior Mike Wohl (Northampton,
Mass.) returned to the First Team for the third time in his career
with the Jeffs, having earned First Team honors in each of the
previous two years. Although an early-season injury kept Wohl
briefly off the field, he returned to form with six goals and three
assists through 13 appearances, ranking second among his club in
points with 15. Also returning up front this year to the First Team
was Bowdoin junior Nick Figueiredo (Wilmington, Mass.). Figueiredo,
who led his club in scoring this season with 12 goals and an assist
for 25 points, ranks third in the league in both goals and points.
Rounding out the forwards on the First Team was a pair of sophomore
newcomers, Casey Ftorek (Wolfeboro, N.H.) of Middlebury and
Wesleyan’s Matt Nevin (Montclair, N.J.). Ftorek highlights an
explosive Panther offense this season that currently averages a
NESCAC-best 2.47 goals per game, tallying 13 goals and eight
assists for a league-leading 34 points. A year after leading his
club in scoring with nine goals and five assists, Nevin, the 2005
NESCAC Rookie of the Year, is currently tied atop the Cardinal stat
sheet with seven goals and four assists for 18 points.
Senior midfielders Tommy Day (Needham, Mass.) of Williams and Peter
Glidden (Algodones, N.M.) of Wesleyan garnered All-NESCAC honors
for the first time in their careers this year, joining Huffer in
the middle on the First Team. Day collected two goals while
starting 14 games for the Ephs so far in 2006. Glidden is one point
shy of matching a career-best 13 he accumulated during his first
season with the Cardinals, netting four goals and four assists
through 15 outings this year.
Williams senior defender Dana Leary (Washington, D.C.) joined
Amherst’s Wohl as the only three-time First Team selection on
this year’s squad. Leary has been the backbone of a Williams
defense that has allowed a league-low 0.53 goals per game while
also providing an offensive element for the Ephs, scoring four
goals. Along with Leary in the back on the First Team were Wesleyan
senior Jared Ashe (Stamford, Conn.) and Bowdoin junior Brendan Egan
(Westfield, N.J.). Ashe, a Second Team member in 2005, has started
every game this season for the Cardinals with three goals, two of
which are game-winners, and two assists for eight points. Egan
contributed two goals to the Polar Bear offense through 14 outings
this season. The defenses for Bowdoin and Wesleyan are tied for
third among conference teams in goals allowed this season at 0.80
per game.
Middlebury senior goalkeeper Zack Toth (Carlisle, Mass.) completes
the NESCAC All-Conference First Team, earning first team
recognition for the second-straight year. Toth holds a 10-4-1
record this season with a 0.99 goals against average and a .819
save percentage, collecting six shutouts.
NESCAC Rookie of the Year honors went to Amherst’s Matt Lewis
(Wayland, Mass.). The freshman midfielder has appeared in 14 games,
tallying two goals while helping the Lord Jeffs post an 11-2-2
overall record and a 6-0-1 showing at home so far in 2006.
Williams head coach Mike Russo was selected by his peers as the
NESCAC Coach of the Year. In the midst of his 28th season at the
helm, Russo has guided the Ephs to a 13-1-1 record this fall along
with the 2006 NESCAC Men’s Soccer Championship. It is the
third time in seven years that Russo has won the award, last
receiving Coach of the Year honors in 2003.
