Men’s Soccer: Campbell Named GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, Five Other Cadets Honored
NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Sophomore central defender Ryan Campbell of the Norwich men's soccer team headlined the list of Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) postseason award winners after being named the conference's Defensive Player of the Year for 2011.
Campbell (Damascus, Md.) was the backbone of the Norwich defense as he was one of just four players to play and start in all 20 games so far this season. He also scored two goals and added an assist for a career-high five points.
Campbell was also named First Team All-Conference for the second straight year. He was joined on the first team by junior midfielder Garrett Shufelt (Clifton Park, N.Y.) who led the team with seven goals and five assists for 19 points. Shufelt's seven goals and 19 points established new career highs in both categories after his previous bests were four goals and 15 points.
Sophomores Joe Young (McLean, Va.) and Wesley Keslin (Brossard, Quebec) were both named Second Team All-Conference. Young had a breakout sophomore campaign at the top of the Norwich offensive formation, tallying seven goals and two assists for 16 points. He also led the team with three game-winning goals.
Keslin made an immediate impact in his first season for the Maroon & Gold, combining with Campbell to form one of the conference's best central defense tandems. He also has contributed three goals and four assists for 10 points.
Freshman goalkeeper Christian Hallstrom (Las Vegas, Nev.) was named Third Team All-Conference after taking over the starting job near the midpoint of the season. Hallstrom is currently 8-4-0 on the year with a 1.37 goals against average and a .754 save percentage to go along with four shutouts.
Senior forward Adam Ploof (Colchester, Vt.) earned the team sportsmanship award to round out the list of Norwich award winners. Ploof scored his first collegiate goal in the team's final match of the regular season in a 6-0 win over Rivier.
Norwich (11-9-0, 6-4-0 GNAC) is coming off a storybook run to the GNAC Championship before falling to Saint Joseph's (Maine) 4-1. The Cadets get to continue their season though after earning a bid to the ECAC New England Tournament. NU will host fourth-seeded UMass-Boston on Wednesday at 1 p.m. on Howard Field. The Beacons were originally scheduled to host but couldn't because of field conditions.
You can view the full GNAC All-Conference Release by clicking here.
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