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Somerset, NJ -- On the eve of the Northeast Conference (NEC) Men’s Soccer Championship, the league announced its 2013 All-NEC teams and major award winners, highlighted by Robert Morris sophomore forward Neco Brett (Kingston, Jamaica/Excelsior) collecting NEC Player of the Year honors.  Fairleigh Dickinson senior Nicholas Walker (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago/St. Mary’s) was tabbed the NEC Defensive Player of the Year and Central Connecticut freshman defender Conor Qualter (York, England/Leeds United) the unanimous NEC Rookie of the Year.  Shaun Green was named NEC Coach of the Year by his peers after leading CCSU to the NEC regular season title.
 
Brett had a season to remember for the Colonials in 2013, serving as the catalyst for the NEC’s highest scoring offense this season.  A lethal scorer, he currently leads the nation in both points (36) and points per game (2.0), and ranks second in goals (14), third in goals per game (0.78) and 19th in assists (8).  Brett’s 14 tallies are the most by an NEC player since the 2008 season, and at one point midway through the year scored seven times during a four-game RMU win streak, including a hat trick against Buffalo on September 29.  The Kingston, Jamaica native was a two-time NEC Player of the Week who ended his season with six game-winning goals.  He joins Rhian Dodds (2002) as Colonials who have been named NEC Player of the Year.
 
Walker, who hails from Trinidad and Tobago, anchored a stingy Fairleigh Dickinson defense that permitted just eight goals in seven conference matches and posted five shutouts on the year. Now a two-time All-NEC first team defender, Walker helped lead the Knights to a number of notable non-conference victories, including a 2-1 overtime conquest of then No. 14 St. John’s, along with shutout wins over Drexel, Lehigh and Princeton.
 
The unanimous pick for NEC Rookie of the Year and a first team All-NEC honoree, Qualter served as the backbone of a CCSU backline that only yielded eight goals over the course of league play.  Qualter also delivered some punch on offense, scoring game-winners in back-to-back NEC wins over LIU Brooklyn and Sacred Heart in mid-October.  The native of York, England was named NEC Rookie of the Week a conference-best four times. 
 
Now in his 29th season at the helm of the Central Connecticut program, Green led the Blue Devils to their third NEC regular season title and first-ever No. 1 seed in the NEC Tournament.  CCSU won its first six league matches to clinch the regular season title back on November 1, and also holds a victory over Monmouth, the top-ranked team in the North Atlantic region.  A three-time NEC Coach of the Year (2003, 2011), Green hopes to guide the Blue Devils to their second NEC Tournament crown this weekend.  After winning it all back in 2007, CCSU made a magical run to the NCAA Tournament round of 16 with wins over Harvard and Tulsa in a landmark year for Green and the Blue Devil program.
 
Robert Morris and Saint Francis U both landed three players on the All-NEC first team.

A pair of RMU midfielders from Ontario joined Brett on the first team.  Senior Miro Cabrilo (Hamilton, Ontario/Glendale Secondary School) ranked third on the Colonials in goals (4), assists (6) and points (14), while sophomore Bruce Cullen (Pickering, Ontario/Pine Ridge) ended the regular season as the NEC leader with nine assists, a figure that ranks him tenth nationally.  Cullen is also fifth in the conference with 17 points.

Saint Francis U senior forward Nick Kolarac (Pittsburgh, PA/West Allegheny) was recognized on the All-NEC second team a year ago, but moves up after finishing the regular season with 10 goals, four assists and 24 points for the playoff-bound Red Flash.  He ranks second in the NEC in goals and points, and was tabbed NEC Player of the Week on September 3 after scoring a pair of game-winners in season-opening wins over William & Mary and Canisius.  Francis de Vries (Christchurch, New Zealand/Cashmere) is one of just two freshman to earn All-NEC recognition.  The lockdown defender patrolled an SFU backline that has permitted a league-low 11 goals on the year in support of senior goalkeeper Daniel Valcicak (Herndon, VA/Gonzaga College).  Valcicak posted an NEC-best 0.59 goals-against-average and .873 save percentage in regular season play, and his six shutouts ranks second on the circuit.  A two-time All-NEC first teamer, his GAA ranks him tenth nationally.

2012 NEC Rookie of the Year Kevin Correa (Flushing, NY/Flushing), a junior forward, was one of two St. Francis Brooklyn players to earn first team plaudits.  A first team honoree a year ago, Correa lit up opposing defenses to the tune of nine goals, six assists and 24 points to rank in the NEC top-three in all three categories.  He was a two-time NEC Player of the Week for the Terriers, who are back in the postseason for the first time since 2009.  Senior midfielder John Johansson (Kalmar, Sweden/Stagneliusskolan) chipped in with four assists to rank second on SFBK and ninth in the NEC.

Along with Walker, Fairleigh Dickinson sported a first team award winner in junior midfielder Anders Vest-Hansen (Nykobing, Denmark/Celf).  Vest-Hansen wrapped up his season second on the Knights in both assists (4) and points (8).  He knocked in a pair of game-winners for the Knights, including a PK in overtime to send FDU to a 2-1 win over nationally ranked St. John’s on October 1.

The All-NEC second team had an eye-catching CCSU presence with five Blue Devils named to the squad.  Senior Eddy Bogle (Hartford, CT/Weaver) and sophomore Zach Zurita (Stratford, CT/Monmouth) are a pair of high scoring forwards who combined to net 11 of CCSU’s 19 goals on the year.  With six goals, five assists and 17 points, Zurita leads CCSU and ranks in the NEC top-10 in all three categories.  Bogle has netted five goals - including three game-winners - and amassed 12 points heading into the postseason.  Patrolling the midfield for the Blue Devils this season has been junior Stephen Walmsley (Liverpool, England/Ocean Reef).  Walmsley recorded two assists on the year, one of which came off a corner in overtime to beat Sacred Heart on October 13.  Senior back Jose Gamboa (San Jose, Costa Rica/Colegio Nuestra) and junior keeper Josef Abele (Manchester, CT/East Catholic) were defensive stalwarts all season long for CCSU.  The Blue Devils posted an NEC-best eight shutouts, seven of which were credited to Abele.  Abele has posted a 1.18 GAA  and .797 save percentage on the year, while Gamboa scored the game-winner in CCSU’s 1-0 win over Fairleigh Dickinson on October 19.

St. Francis Brooklyn senior forward Gabriel Bagot (New York, NY/Edison Academic Center) makes his third appearance on an All-NEC team, having earned second team honors in 2012 and first team accolades as a sophomore in 2011.  Bagot has tallied eight goals and 18 points on the year to rank fourth in the NEC in both categories.  He drilled four game-winners during the regular season and now has 25 goals in his SFBK career.  Bagot is joined by junior defender Andy Cormack (Plymouth, England/Hele’s School), a superb defender on a Terrier squad that gave up just 14 goals this season, second fewest in the conference.

Saint Francis U junior midfielder Bryan Causey (Virginia Beach, VA/Salem) pitched in with a goal and two assists for the Red Flash, while junior Mitch Kavlick (Erie, PA/Eric McDowell) served as key defender on an SFU club that did not allow multiple goals in a game this season.

Rounding out the second team were LIU Brooklyn sophomore midfielder Tanner Sica (Toms River, NJ/Toms River North) and Robert Morris junior midfielder Devon Williams (Kingston, Jamaica/St. Georges).  Sica finished with a goal and an assist for the Blackbirds, while Williams ranked third in the NEC in the regular season with six assists.  Williams also added a pair of markers for the Colonials.

About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 33rd year, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to four of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Pittsburgh (#23), Baltimore (#27), and Hartford/New Haven (#30).  Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 22 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 14 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary’s, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Google+, all @NECsports.