Stevens placed seven players on the first team and took home the Player of the Year award for the sixth consecutive year as part of the 2013 Empire 8 All Conference Soccer Teams. Ducks’ forward
Carson Pryor earned the Player of the Year award, while Houghton goalkeeper
Jacob Dunnett was named the Rookie of the Year. Stevens head coach
Devin Rensing was voted the Doug May Coach of the Year.
Pryor, a sophomore from St. Louis, MO, helped lead the Ducks to the No. 1 seed in the Empire 8 Tournament for the fourth straight year. Pryor leads Stevens in goals with 12 and points with 27 as he tops in the Empire 8 in points, points per game, goals and goals per game. He has registered at least one point in 12-of-17 games played including two multi-goal games against Nazareth and Utica. The Ducks are on a 10-match unbeaten streak and will play second-seeded Utica in the Empire 8 Championship game on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 5pm.
Dunnett, a freshman from Quispamsis, New Brunswick, quickly adjusted to the collegiate game leading the Highlanders to a 14-2-1 overall record. As an NCAA provisional member, Houghton is not eligible for post-season play but still completed a full schedule against conference teams and went 6-1. Dunnett leads the Empire 8 in goals-against-average (.352), save percentage (.898), shutouts (11; team has 12), and is tied for fewest goals allowed (6).
Rensing enjoys his second Doug May Memorial Coach of the Year award, also earning the honor in 2011. The Ducks are the top-ranked team in the East Region and fifth in the national NSCAA poll with a 15-1-1 record. Defensively, Stevens is fifth nationally in team goals-against average, allowing just seven tallies in 17 matches this season. Stevens leads the Empire 8 in assists per game, points per game, save percentage, scoring offense, shutout percentage, team goals-against average, total assists, total goals and won-lost tied percentage.
The coaching award is named after May, who coached RIT from 1980 to 1996 and Nazareth from 1997 to 2003 before passing away in April 2004.
One member of each team was named that institution’s representative on the 2013 Men’s Soccer Sportsman of the Year Team. Empire 8 emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete’s experience in conjunction with an institution’s educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.
Empire 8 2013 Men’s Soccer All-Conference Teams