Liberty League announces 2017 Men's Soccer Awards; Dede selected Player of the Year
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Jethro Dede, Junior, Midfielder, St. Lawrence University
St. Lawrence University junior Jethro Dede was selected as the 2017 Liberty League Player of the Year. Dede paced the Saints in scoring with six goals and three assists for 15 points this season. He played and started in all 17 games this season and in three 1-0 contests, Dede tallied all three game-winners. He also notched a goal in five straight league games from October 4th through 21st.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Tyler Gilmore, Junior, Defender, Vassar College
Vassar College junior Tyler Gilmore earned Defensive Player of the Year honors after leading the Brewers to their second consecutive Liberty League championship game. Gilmore anchored a back line that recorded six shutouts and allowed only 17 goals, the third-lowest in the league. He also had a hand in the Vassar offense with two goals and two assists on the year for six points.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Trevor Bisson, Defender, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
RPI first-year Trevor Bisson was recognized as the Liberty League Rookie of the Year after a successful freshman campaign. He played and started in all 16 games for RPI and was part of a defense that had four shutouts. Offensively, he closed out the year ranked second among league leaders in game-winning goals (3), fourth in goals (6) and ninth in points (12). When Bisson did score, the team went 5-1 and the Engineers posted four clean sheets. He also led all Liberty League freshman in goals as well as points.
CO-COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR: Hobart College – Head Coach Shawn Griffin & Assistant Coach Andrew Bednarsky
CO-COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR: Rochester Institute of Technology – Head Coach Bill Garno, Assistant Coaches Yuri Lavryenko, Dave Ames, Travis Wood & Scott Fishel
Hobart’s coaching staff and RIT’s coaching staff have been selected as the Liberty League Co-Coaching Staff of the Year as voted by the league’s head coaches.
Hobart head coach Shawn Griffin along with assistant coach Andrew Bednarksy directed the Statesmen to an 8-4-4 record in the regular season and an undefeated mark in league play at 6-0-3. The Statesmen earned their second straight Liberty League regular season title, while also earning the top seed of the tournament and hosting rights to the championship. In the league tournament, Hobart posted back-to-back shutouts en route to claiming their first championship title since 2009. The Statesmen led the league defensively, with a league-low 13 goals against and a 0.72 goals against average.
RIT head coach Bill Garno and his assistant coaches guided the Tigers to an overall record of 8-6-3 in 2017. After a tough non-conference slate, RIT began league play at 3-4-1 before posting a 5-2-2 mark against league opponents, including an undefeated mark (4-0-2) in the last six games of the year to close out the regular season. The Tigers returned to the league tournament for the first time since 2011 as the third seed before falling in the semifinals. RIT paced the league in scoring average, with 2.2 goals per game and they were tops in the league in points (109) with 37 goals and 35 assists.
ALL-LIBERTY LEAGUE FIRST TEAM
F- Tapshak Augustine, Jr., St. Lawrence
F- Simon Garno, So., RIT
F- Brendan McNamee, Jr., St. Lawrence
F- Augustine Okoye, Sr., Skidmore
M- Adrian Colmenares, Sr., Hobart
M- Jethro Dede, Jr., St. Lawrence
M- Hayden Van Brewer, Sr., Vassar
B- Hunter Critchlow, Sr., Hobart
B- Binjo Emmanuel, So., Hobart
B- Tyler Gilmore, Jr., Vassar
GK- John Weitzman, Sr., Union
ALL-LIBERTY LEAGUE SECOND TEAM
F- Kevin Calnan, Sr., Clarkson
F- Dean Kouroupas, Sr., RIT
F- Mattie Mrlik, So., Vassar
F- Jose Novas, Sr., Vassar
F- Nick Shenberger, Sr., Bard
M- Salvador Lopez Jr., So., Union
M- Ryan Roche, Sr., St. Lawrence
M- Reid Smith, Sr., Vassar
B- Yasin Dombayci, So., Union
B- James Homan, Jr., Clarkson
B- Ben Poole, Jr., Skidmore
GK- Peter Cinibulk, Jr., RIT
ALL-LIBERTY LEAGUE HONORABLE MENTION
F- Derrick Acheampong, Jr., Hobart
F- Austin Betterly, So., RPI
F- Nate Mansfield, Jr., Ithaca
F- Kevin Santos, Sr., Skidmore
M- Rob Brandell, Sr., St. Lawrence
M- Steven Collins, Sr., RPI
M- Anthony DeFeo, Jr., RIT
M- Nate Schoen, Jr., Ithaca
M- Ethan Strauss, Sr., Union
M- Mack Walton, Fr., Clarkson
B- Trevor Bisson, Fr., RPI
B- Stephen Dorney, Jr., St. Lawrence
B- Joseph Escamilla, Sr., Hobart
B- Michael Reverdatto, Sr., RIT
B- Tristan Scott, Sr., RIT
GK- Sebastian Bosch, So., Skidmore
GK- Alec Kaminer, Jr., Hobart
GK- Mike Smith, Jr., St. Lawrence