Men's Soccer

BENNINGTON, Vt. - Southern Vermont men’s soccer sophomore Aaron Eschler (Gloversville, N.Y./Broadalbin-Perth HS) was named the 2008 NECC Men’s Soccer Goalie of the Year Thursday. The Mountaineers, led by head coach Tim Penrod, were also honored as the 2008 NECC Team Sportsmanship Award recipients. Three players were also named to All-NECC teams honoring their hard work ethic and devotion to excellence throughout 2008.

"To be recognized by our competition for demonstrating great sportsmanship throughout the season is a very big deal,” said coach Penrod of his team receiving the sportsmanship award. “This was truly a competitive season and I feel that every team in our conference deserves this award. The individual players on our team should be commended for this - they kept their heads all season long."

Eschler, a psychology major at Southern Vermont College, tallied 150 saves with a 2.32 goals against average (GAA) topping the NECC in saves and save percentage. Overall he has played 1243:48 minutes while notching 52 saves, 2.00 GAA and a .812 save percentage in all six conference matches. Winning the Goalie of the Year awards Eschler an automatic spot on the All-NECC first team.

Coach Penrod is impressed with the sophomore transfer and finds him to be an important component to the team’s success.

"This is a great honor for a young man who worked very hard all season long," said coach Penrod. "He kept us in every game that we played this season. While he probably received a lot of votes for this honor because of the saves he made, what gets lost in the shuffle is the little things: commanding the penalty area, communication to the entire team, and his distribution of the ball. He is a complete player and I think he is only going to get better over the next two years."

Freshman forward Nick Haggerty (Wynantskill, N.Y./Averill Park HS), a Criminal Justice major at Southern Vermont, and sophomore midfielder Tony Martinez (Hoosick Falls, N.Y./Hoosick Falls HS), majoring in Business at SVC, garnered All-NECC second team honors as well as nine more student-athletes in the Conference.

Haggerty, starting all year for the Mountaineers, posted solid numbers with four goals and an assist to give him nine points on the season. He played exceptional ball contributing offensively and defensively in all sixteen of the games he played in.

"So much of our positive play came through Nick this year there was no doubt he deserved some sort of recognition,” said coach Penrod. “Not only was he the most consistent performer for us this year, he constantly put the team ahead of himself. He worked very hard to set up his tomatoes for success."

Martinez started thirteen games scoring three goals and assisting with three to give him a total of nine points for Southern Vermont.

Coach Penrod said, “it was truly a pleasure to have Tony back on the field this year. I know sitting out a year really motivated him to come in ready to play. He played central midfield most of the year for us, and I'll be the first to tell you how physically demanding that position is in our system. However, one thing you could always count on was the smile on Tony's face when he was on the field, regardless of the situation."

Voting for the All-NECC team and each of the major awards was conducted among all NECC men’s soccer coaches.

The Mountaineers finished their season 2-13-1 and 1-5 in NECC play but do not the let their record deceive you.

"This year saw big strides for our team. No one can debate the fact we made huge improvements from a year ago. What is important for us to remember now is we still have work to do. While I applaud our individual and team successes this year, I hope we push ourselves to earn more All-Conference and Player of the Year Awards. We have a great group of returning players with a great level of talent. And hopefully, next year we will be competing for the ultimate award: NECC Conference Champions."

Keep a look out for more NECC action as the men’s and women’s basketball teams kickoff their seasons in the next few weeks. Go to www.svcathletics.com for the official schedules.