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All-Ivy Men's Soccer -- 2007
Created: 11/21/2007 11:25:44 AM
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Capping an undefeated Ivy season and steamrolling to the nation's best record at 15-1-1, the Brown Bears have also named the most recipients to this year's All-Ivy coaches' selections. Bruno placed five players — including one unanimous selection — on the first team and a sixth player on the second team. The Bears also swept the Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards.
At the heart of any championship team is a strong defense and Brown is not an exception to the rule. Matthew Britner (Halifax, Nova Scotia), who played in just two games in 2006 before suffering a season-ending injury, returned to anchor a unit that surrendered only 14 goals in 16 regular season games. Britner, a unanimous selection in 2007 (and also in 2005), provided an incredible presence for the back line of the Bears and has been rewarded with the distinction of Ivy League Player of the Year.
Joining Britner with the heavy hardware for the season is freshman goalkeeper, Paul Grandstrand (Orono, Minn.), whose dominance in the net has been an incredible side story for the Bears. His meteoric rise began in the seventh game of the season and he has been nothing short of spectacular — sporting a 10-0-1 record. In Ivy play, he may have been at his best — turning away chance after chance and rolling to a 6-0 record. His exploits were recognized as worthy of the Rookie of the Year award and his appointment was in nearly unanimous fashion. He was also selected to the second-team All-Ivy.
Junior defender Rhett Bernstein (San Diego, Calif.) completed the Brown defensive trifecta named to the All-Ivy selections. The preseason Hermann Trophy Watch List selection provided his mettle once again as he helped solidify a defense that would not be beaten in Ivy League play.
The Bears, however, were not just led by defense. The team also saw a midfielder and two forwards named to the first team.
Nick Elenz-Martin (Encinitas, Calif.) — whose overall work often overshadows statistical accolades — was selected as a first-team midfielder. Elenz-Martin has the ability to control the midfield and overall pace of the game. A powerful presence — the native Californian is a menace to opposing playmakers and is not afraid to make the big tackle.
Kevin Davies (Port Washington, N.Y.) and Dylan Sheehan (Wolfville, Nova Scotia), who jockeyed for the team lead in goals for the better part of the season, were also tabbed for the first team. In the end, the competing strikers each had 10 goals on the year and were only separated in the statistics book by three points. Both players are Wild Card distinctions for All-Ivy.
Harvard also enjoyed a heavy presence in the first-team awards. The Crimson's deadly attack partnership of Andre Akpan (Grand Prairie, Texas) and Mike Fucito (Westford, Mass.) were named first team selections at the forward position. Akpan's selection was unanimous by the Ivy coaches — a League-leading 13 goals and nine assists on the year could be the reason. Couple that with Fucito's 11 goals and seven assists in 2007 and you can see why the Harvard duo is one of the most lethal attacking combinations in the nation.
And feeding that partnership was Crimson senior talisman Matt Hoff (St. Louis, Mo.), whose technical ability rivals any player in League. His two goals and eight assists on the year — for a total of 12 points — helped the high-powered offense to 41 goals on the year and 20 in Ivy play.
Princeton's Kyle McHugh (Baldwin, Md.) was voted to the first team in the midfield in unanimous manner. The senior was the most dangerous member of a young squad that improved dramatically over the course of the year and looks poised to be a real threat in the next few seasons. His seven goals — including three game-winners — paced the Tigers.
Cornell's Brian Kuritzky (Croton, N.Y.) was also named to the first team as a Wild Card selection after receiving the same amount of votes as both Dylan Sheehan and Kevin Davies from Brown. The senior midfielder scored eight goals on the year and assisted on two others for the Big Red — which improved its record from 4-8-3 in 2006 to 7-9-1 this year.
Rounding off the first team selections are Dartmouth senior defender Alejandro Frischeisen (Garden City, N.Y.) and junior goalkeeper, Sean Milligan (Westport, Conn.). The formidable combination of Frischeisen and Milligan made the Big Green squad one of the stingiest defenses in the nation. In 17 games, the lads from Hanover, N.H. only surrendered nine goals and were one of the most difficult puzzles for opposing teams to solve during the year.
The Big Green also had three players named to the second team All-Ivy. The Wellington, New Zealand connection of forward Craig Henderson (six goals and four assists) and midfielder Daniel Keat (one goal and two assists) joined senior defender Thomas Lobben (Glen Head, N.Y.) on the team.
Penn received two nods to the second team as midfielder Derek Hobson (San Diego, Calif.) [four goals and four assists on the year] and defender Keith Vereb (Bowie, Md.) [16 starts and two goals] were chosen by the League coaches.
Columbia's Tom Heinbockel (Seaford, N.Y.) [three goals and three assists], Cornell's Matt Bouaree (Manasquan, N.J.) [nine goals and four assists], Harvard's Kwaku Nyamekye (Geneva, Switzerland) [four goals and one assist], Yale's Alex Guzinski ( Palo Alto, Calif.) [one goal], and the aforementioned Grandstrand completed the second team.
Ten student-athletes received honorable mention distinction from the coaches.
Brown, Dartmouth and Harvard were selected to compete in the 2007 NCAA Championships and all will host games in the tournament. Brown has selected as the No. 6 overall seed in the tournament and will await the winner of Providence and Old Dominion on Wednesday, Nov. 28 at 7 pm.
Dartmouth will entertain America East champion Vermont and Northeast Conference champion Central Connecticut State travels to Harvard on Saturday, Nov. 24.
First Team All-Ivy (12)
*Andre Akpan, Harvard (So., F, Grand Prairie, Texas)
Kevin Davies, Brown (Sr., F, Port Washington, N.Y.)
Mike Fucito, Harvard (Jr., F, Westford, Mass.)
Matt Hoff, Harvard (Sr., F, St. Louis, Mo.)
Dylan Sheehan, Brown (Jr., F, Wolfville, Nova Scotia)
Nick Elenz-Martin, Brown (So., M, Encinitas, Calif.)
Brian Kuritzky, Cornell (Sr., M, Croton, N.Y.)
*Kyle McHugh, Princeton (Sr., M, Baldwin, Md.)
Rhett Bernstein, Brown (Jr., D, San Diego, Calif.)
*Matthew Britner, Brown (Sr., D, Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Alejandro Frischeisen, Dartmouth (Sr., D, Garden City, N.J.)
Sean Milligan, Dartmouth (Jr., GK, Westport, Conn.)
* - Unanimous selection
Second Team All-Ivy (10)
Matt Bouraee, Cornell (So., F, Manasquan, N.J.)
Craig Henderson, Dartmouth (Jr., F, Wellington, New Zealand)
Alex Guzinski, Yale (Jr., M, Palo Alto, Calif.)
Derek Hobson, Penn (Sr., M, San Diego, Calif.)
Daniel Keat, Dartmouth (So., M, Wellington, New Zealand)
Tom Heinbockel, Columbia (Sr., M, Seaford, N.Y.)
Thomas Lobben, Dartmouth (Sr., D, Glen Head, N.Y.)
Kwaku Nyamekye, Harvard (So., D, Geneva, Switzerland)
Keith Vereb, Penn (Sr., D, Bowie, Md.)
Paul Grandstrand, Brown (Fr., GK, Orono, Minn.)
Honorable Mention (10)
F - Loukas Tasigianis, Penn (Fr., Ridgefield, N.J.)
M - Matt Care, Princeton (Jr., Newtown, Pa.); Matt Carroll, Dartmouth (Jr., North Andover, Mass.); Darren Howerton, Brown (Jr., Northboro, Mass.); Devin Muntz, Princeton (So., Macungie, Pa.); Jordan Raybould, Yale (So., Kansas City, Mo.); Chris Roland, Brown (So., Rochester, N.Y.); John Stamatis, Harvard (Jr., Mountainside, N.J.)
D - Kyle Lynch, Cornell (Sr., Fairfax, Va.)
GK- Erik Geiger, Yale (Sr., Chatham, N.J.)
Player of the Year
Matthew Britner, Brown (Sr., D, Halifax, Nova Scotia)
Rookie of the Year
Paul Grandstrand, Brown (Fr., GK, Orono, Minn.)
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Related Schools: No Associated School
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Related Sports: Soccer
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