INDIANAPOLIS – University of Indianapolis junior forward Ngwese Ebangwese and head coach John Higgins, along with Lewis University senior goalkeeper Alec Pickett and Quincy University freshman midfielder Xhovani Dokaj have earned major postseason honors for the 2013 Great Lakes Valley Conference men’s soccer season, it was announced by the league office Thursday evening. Ebangwese was selected by the GLVC coaches as the Offensive Player of the Year, Pickett was named Defensive Player of the Year, Dokaj was chosen as the league’s Freshman of the Year, while Higgins was honored by his peers as Coach of the Year. In addition, a total of 33 standouts were named to the 2013 All-Conference Teams. The annual awards were presented Thursday at a reception on the eve of the 2013 GLVC Championship Tournament.
Ebangwese is the first UIndy player in school history to be honored with the conference’s top soccer honor as prior to the implementation of the offensive award in 2006, the league had awarded a single Player of the Year honor. In 15 conference games played, Ebangwese led the league with 11 goals and 25 points while helping the Greyhounds to their first-ever GLVC Regular-Season Championship – an honor they shared with Quincy. Ebangwese, a native of Rochester, N.Y., was responsible for three game-winning goals in those 12 wins, while tallying three assists in GLVC play as well. Overall this season, Ebangwese has accounted for a conference-high 13 goals and 29 points in 18 contests.
Pickett earns the league’s top defensive honor after registering a conference-best 0.40 goals-against average (GAA) and .895 save percentage in GLVC action, while helping the Flyers to a 11-1-3 mark in league play. The Mokena, Ill., native allowed just six goals in 1336 minutes, 13 seconds of action during the 15 GLVC matches this season. He registered seven shutouts during that stretch, which ranked second among conference goalkeepers, while stopping 51 shots as well. In 18 games played overall this year, Pickett owns eight shutouts and a league-best 0.49 GAA and .877 save percentage. He earns the Flyers’ first GLVC Defensive Player of the Year award and is the seventh honoree in program history to earn a top honor from the conference. Sami Boudakh was named the GLVC Player of the Year in 1986 and 1988, John Coyle was presented the award in 1987, Sean Seaberg was a back-to-back honoree in 1993 and 1994, and Chris Doran earned the accolade most recently in 1998.
Dokaj becomes just the second Quincy newcomer to be named GLVC Freshman of the Year as Jason Wright became the first Hawk to earn the distinction in 1998. In 15 GLVC games this season the freshman posted 18 points on seven goals and four assists, which ranked fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, in the conference. In addition to earning the league’s Offensive Player of the Week award on Sept. 30, the St. Louis, Mo., native garnered Disney Soccer/NSCAA Player of the Week accolades the following day. His efforts helped Quincy grab a share of the GLVC Regular-Season Championship with a 13-2 record in conference play, as well as a 15-4 mark overall.
As a senior in 2007, Higgins finished his playing career at UIndy as a third-team All-GLVC honoree. Six years later, he has been voted by his peers as the conference’s top coach, and now joins Bellarmine mentor Tim Chastonay (1992 All-GLVC; 2005 GLVC Coach of the Year) as the only individuals in conference history to have earned All-GLVC honors as a student-athlete and GLVC Coach of the Year accolades. Following a 2012 campaign in which the Hounds missed the GLVC Championship Tournament with a 7-8-3 record, Higgins guided his ballclub to an impressive turnaround one year later, earning a share of the GLVC Regular-Season Championship and 14-2-2 overall record, including a 12-1-2 mark in conference play. The Hounds are the No. 2 seed in this week’s GLVC Championship Tournament. This season Higgins mentored six All-Conference honorees, including first-team selections Ebangwese and midfielder Roger Lee. Forward Reid Strain, last year’s GLVC Freshman of the Year, was named to the All-GLVC Second Team, while midfielder Kevin Eggert, defender Max Rohda and goalkeeper Andrew Verhonik were picked as third-team selections.
Twenty-three other men’s soccer stars earned recognition from the GLVC coaches, as three 11-member All-Conference teams were also released on Thursday.
Of the 33 All-Conference selections, 25 honorees hailed from four teams, including a league-best seven each from Lewis and Rockhurst, six from Indianapolis and five from Quincy. A GLVC-best four of the five Hawks honored were first-team selections as Dokaj was joined by forwards Jordan Roberts and Ethan Venvertloh and defender Chris Garavaglia. In addition to Ebangwese, Lee, and Pickett, four other standouts were named first-team All-GLVC, including Bellarmine back Matt Odem, Lewis defender Kyle Collins, and Rockhurst forward Mark Magee and midfielder Paolo Scoppola.
A complete list of the three All-Conference Teams and major postseason award winners follow below.
GLVC men’s soccer action resumes Friday with top-seeded Quincy, No. 2 Indianapolis, No. 4 Rockhurst and No. 6 Drury competing in semifinal action of the 2013 GLVC Men’s Soccer Championship Tournament, hosted by Quincy at Legends Stadium in Quincy, Ill.
2013 MEN'S SOCCER ALL-GLVC TEAMS & POSTSEASON HONORS
Offensive Player of the Year:
Ngwese Ebangwese, Jr., F, UINDY
Defensive Player of the Year:
Alec Pickett, Sr., GK, LEWIS
Freshman of the Year:
Xhovani Dokaj, Fr., MF, QU
Coach of the Year:
John Higgins, UINDY
ALL-GLVC FIRST TEAM
Mark Magee, F, RU
Ngwese Ebangwese, F, UINDY
Jordan Roberts, F, QU
Ethan Venvertloh, F, QU
Alec Pickett, GK, LEWIS
Paolo Scoppola, MF, RU
Roger Lee, MF, UINDY
Xhovani Dokaj, MF, QU
Matt Odem, B, BU
Chris Garavaglia, B, QU
Kyle Collins, B, LEWIS |
ALL-GLVC SECOND TEAM
Cristhian Ramirez, F, LEWIS
Reid Strain, F, UINDY
Alex Ridsdale, F, MCK
Ryan Bass, GK, RU
Dan Schiavi, MF, BU
Jack Mathis, MF, DU
George Thomson, MF, LEWIS
Jon Huelsman, MF, UMSL
Jon Schreiber, B, RU
Oussie Gueye, B, RU
Michael Pyle, B, LEWIS |
ALL-GLVC THIRD TEAM
Andrew Verhonik, GK, UINDY
Alexandro Ayala, F, LEWIS
Michael Lipton, F, SJC
Milan Filipovic, F, UWP
Kevin Eggert, MF, UINDY
Steve McAnany, MF, QU
Lucas De Rossi, MF, RU
Ryan Haas, B, DU
Max Rohda, B, UINDY
Isaac Sutton, B, LEWIS
George Skevington, B, RU |