Colorado College’s Fechter; Oglethorpe’s Lavery highlight 2011 All-SCAC Men's Soccer Team

SUWANEE, Ga. – In exclusive voting by the league’s head men’s coaches, Matt Fechter of Colorado College was selected the SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Year while Mark Lavery of Oglethorpe University was voted SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year. Complete Release

In that same balloting, Matt Cardone of Trinity University was tabbed SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year, and Oglethorpe’s Jon Akin was voted SCAC Coach-of-the-Year.

Matt Fechter, a junior forward from Westfield, N.J., scored 11 goals and assisted on 11 others during the 2011 season, making him the only player in the SCAC with double-digit performances in both categories and just the 12th in the history of the conference to post the rare double/double. A three-time First Team All-SCAC selection and two-time Third-Team All-Region selection, Fechter, whose 33 points tied for second in the conference, had Colorado’s lone goal in the team’s 2-1 loss to Southwestern in the quarterfinals of the SCAC Tournament. The 2009 SCAC Newcomer-of-the-Year, Fechter is Colorado’s first-ever conference Offensive POTY honoree.

Fechter received four votes from the coaches in the hotly contested balloting for SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Year. Just one vote behind Fechter were senior forward Josh Adams of Trinity University and senior forward Garner Shivers of Birmingham-Southern College, who received three votes each. Senior forward Duncan Keegan of Hendrix College received the remaining two votes.

Mark Lavery, a senior center back from Woodstock, Ga., was the leader of an Oglethorpe defense that allowed its fewest goals per game in conference play (1.22 per game – third in the SCAC) since the 2005 season when the Petrels led the league in that category. A two-year starter since transferring from the University of Kentucky, Lavery was also a vital offensive weapon for Oglethorpe, scoring six goals and assisting on four others for 16 points. He is the first Oglethorpe player to win SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year honors since that award was instituted in 2003.

Lavery received seven votes for SCAC Defensive POTY, followed by junior defender Dennis Mask of Trinity who received four votes. Sophomore defender Cory Gonzalez of Birmingham-Southern received the remaining vote.

Matt Cardone, a first-year goalkeeper from San Antonio, Texas, finished third in the conference in goals against average (0.68) as well as goals allowed (6). Cardone sported a personal mark of nine wins and two losses as a starting goalkeeper and had three shutouts during the 2011 season. He also had 24 saves for a save percentage of .800. Cardone represents the second consecutive Newcomer-of-the-Year selection for Trinity, following teammate Yuri Ribeiro’s recognition in 2010.

Cardone received five votes in the Newcomer-of-the-Year voting, followed by first-year defender Jeremy Carlson of Centre College with three votes and first-year forward Carlos Gaston of Oglethorpe with two votes. First-year center back Ford Emerson of Sewanee-The University of the South and first-year goalkeeper Sveinbjorn Grisson of Birmingham-Southern each received one vote.

Oglethorpe head coach Jon Akin guided his Stormy Petrel men to their first-ever SCAC men’s soccer title and a berth into the 2011 NCAA Tournament. In his ninth season as head coach, Akin has amassed an overall record of 83-73-10 (.530), which includes the 17-4-0 mark of this year’s squad. Despite Thursday’s loss to University of Texas-Tyler in the first round of the NCAA playoffs, Oglethorpe set new school records this season for wins (17), winning percentage (.810) and consecutive victories (12).

Akin received 10 votes from his peers in the COTY voting while Preston Goldfarb of Birmingham-Southern and Paul McGinlay of Trinity received one vote each.

For the complete 2011 All-SCAC Men's Soccer release, click here.