GANSEVOORT, N.Y. – The Blue and White men's soccer team is still actively playing and heads to the North Eastern Atlantic Conference (NEAC) championship tournament semifinal round this weekend. The play of the entire team is the reason the Lions are in the playoffs but a few of our young men have also earned themselves the individual honor of being selected to the league's all-conference teams.
Senior Kevin McCoy (Bangor, Pa. / Bangor) was Penn State Harrisburg's lone first-team all-conference selection. McCoy, the team's center back, was not the leading scorer or point-getter on the team, credited with only one assist on the year, but his high level of play is all it took for the coaches around the league to affirm his all-star status.
Seniors Alex Belanger (Carlisle, Pa. / Big Spring), Dillon Sobilo (Eureka, Calif. / Arcata), and Charlie Hyson (Bel-Air, Md. / Calvert Hall) were all named as third-team all-conference selections. Juniors Tommy Miller (Palmyra, Pa. / Palmyra) and Justin Henderson (Cherry Hill, N.J. / Cherry Hill East) also earned the league's all-conference third-team honors.
Belanger, a 2012 team captain, was Penn State Harrisburg's leading assist man this year with six, good enough to rank him first in the NEAC. He also added one goal during the regular season.
Sobilo is another of this year's team captains and he excelled on the defensive side of the field at center back alongside McCoy. Despite playing defense, he got in the scoring act by picking up a goal on senior day.
Hyson, the team's leading goalkeeper, has a goal against average of 1.44 and has been the rock of the back line making big saves at the right time all season. He made 47 saves on the year and was named the NEAC's Student-Athlete of the Week earlier this fall.
Miller has been one of the Lions most dynamic players. He excelled on the pitch regardless of position and scored an impressive seven goals, including three game-winners, in addition to adding one assist. His goal total and 15 points were both good enough to rank him second on the team.
Henderson, the Lions' third and final team captain, had a breakout year offensively and netted a team-high ten goals, a number that ranks him second in the conference. The hard-working forward notched a hat trick earlier this season and earned the league's Student-Athlete of the Week honors for his performance. He's also recorded two assists this fall.