Turan, Jorgensen and Forgaard Receive ECC Awards; Eight Pioneers Earn All-Conference
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (Oct. 5, 2012) - After being honored with East Coast Conference men's soccer major awards in 2011,
Cemil Turan (Staten Island, N.Y.) and
Marco Jorgensen (Copenhagen, Denmark) of LIU Post earned the conference's highest honors for the second consecutive year. In a vote on by the league's coaches, junior forward Turan was named the Offensive Player of the Year and Jorgensen earned the Goalkeeper of the Year.
Andreas Lindberg was also a repeat winner, with his peers honoring him with the Coach of the Year selection. LIU Post's
Per Forgaard (Stavanger, Norway) rounds out the top award winners as the Rookie of the Year.
Defensive Player of the Year accolades went to Clayton Ulmer (Hamden, Conn.) of Bridgeport for the second straight season.
Cemil Turan was the main cog in the lethal LIU Post offensive attack that currently ranks fifth in the nation. The two-time ECC Offensive Player of the Week, Turan led the conference in goals (15), points (34), and game-winning goals (5). He also ranked second in the conference with 1.79 points per game and added four assists as well.
Turan wasn't the only reason LIU Post's offense clicked on all cylinders for the majority of the season. ECC Rookie of the Year,
Per Forgaard was also a huge part of the Pioneers offense. Forgaard ranked seventh in the conference with six assists and also added six goals to finish just outside the top-ten in the conference with 18 points. Like Turan, Forgaard also was a two-time ECC weekly honoree as Rookie of the Week.
LIU Post's defense was as much a part of the Pioneers success in 2012, with ECC Goalkeeper of the Year
Marco Jorgensen playing a big role. Jorgensen led the ECC in almost every statistical category including goals against (17), goals against average (0.99), and save percentage (.795). He also led the way in wins with a 17-1-0 record and posted four shutouts.
Leading his team to an ECC Regular Season title for the second straight year,
Andreas Lindberg has been voted the ECC Men's Soccer Coach of the Year by his peers. Lindberg guided the Pioneers to a 16-1-0 regular season record, spending two weeks as the No. 1 ranked team in the country along the way.
Turan and Jorgensen are joined on the All-Conference First Team by teammates
Jonathan Watkin (Doncaster, England) and
Eirik Bjoernoe (Randaberg, Norway).
Joining Forgaard as All-Conference Second Team recipients are teammates
Andreas Olsen (Oppeid, Norway) and
Leron Haywood (Rosedale, N.Y.).
The ECC's men's soccer coaches also unanimously agreed to award LIU Post's
Eivind Austboe (Stavanger, Norway) as an Honorary All-Conference member. Austboe was leading the conference in scoring by a wide margin through seven games (eight goals, three assists) before suffering a severe concussion. Despite missing more than half of the season, Austboe still ranks tenth in the conference in points.
2012 ECC Men's Soccer All-Conference
First Team
F - Matthew DiDonna, NYIT
F - William Koki, Mercy
F - Cemil Turan, LIU Post
M - Vinny Caccavale, NYIT
M - Daniel Davren, St. Thomas Aquinas
M - Clayton Ulmer, Bridgeport
M - Jonathan Watkin, LIU Post
B - Eirik Bjoernoe, LIU Post
B - Lee Middleton, Bridgeport
B - Danny Stoker, Queens
GK - Marco Jorgensen, LIU Post
Second Team
F - Andreas Blanke, Bridgeport
F - Michael Cunnigham, Roberts Wesleyan
F - Andreas Olsen, LIU Post
M - Ernest Afful, Mercy
M - Dan Brown, Molloy
M - Per Forgaard, LIU Post
M - Sean Reilly, St. Thomas Aquinas
B - Laurie Child, St. Thomas Aquinas
B - Javier Gallardo, NYIT
B - Leron Haywood, LIU Post
GK - Nick Papas, Mercy
Honorary All-Conference - Eivind Austboe, LIU Post
Offensive Player of the Year: Cemil Turan, Jr., F, LIU Post
Defensive Player of the Year: Clayton Ulmer, Jr., M, Bridgeport
Goalkeeper of the Year: Marco Jorgensen, Sr., LIU Post
Rookie of the Year: Per Forgaard, Fr., M, LIU Post
Coach of the Year: Andreas Lindberg, LIU Post