Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Places League-High Six on All-Patriot League Men's Soccer Team; O'Brien, Nash Earn Major Awards
11/10/2009 7:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 10, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell men's soccer team has been rewarded for its first-place finish in the regular season with a league-high six student-athletes named to the All-Patriot League Team, as well as two individuals earning major awards. Senior forward/midfielder Conor O'Brien (Mt. Sinai, N.Y./St. Anthony's) repeated as the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, while Brendan Nash was picked as PL Coach of the Year.
O'Brien joined senior defender and fellow co-captain Patrick Selwood (Darnestown, Md./The Heights School) and junior midfielder/defender Ross Liberati (Warwick, Md./Tower Hill) on the All-Patriot League First Team. Named to the second team were senior midfielder Sean King (Medford, N.J./Shawnee), sophomore defender Andrew Powell (Charlton, Mass./St. John's) and sophomore goalkeeper Tommy Caso (Phoenix, Md./McDonogh).
Bucknell's six all-conference selections are its second-highest total since joining the Patriot League in 1990. The 2003 team had seven picks, while 1993 squad also had six.
O'Brien is only the fourth player in Patriot League history to repeat as Offensive Player of the Year, joining Lehigh's Andrew Mittendorf (1997-98), Lehigh's Evan Bruno (2000, 2002) and Holy Cross' Matt Ney (2001-02).
This is O'Brien's third All-Patriot League certificate, as he was also a first-team selection in 2008 and a second-team pick as a sophomore in 2007. He enters this weekend's Patriot League Tournament leading the conference in goals (10), assists (8) and points (28). O'Brien has a point in 15 of the team's 19 games this season, and in 20 of the last 24 matches dating back to last year. Six of his 10 goals this season have been game-winners.
O'Brien won the Jim Lennox Offensive Most Valuable Player Award at the Mayor's Cup early in the season. Bucknell won that tournament with two 1-0 wins over Hartwick and Syracuse, and O'Brien scored both goals.
Named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List for the second straight year, O'Brien now ranks ninth in Bucknell history in career goals (25), second in career assists (24) and seventh in career points (74). He is the highest-scoring Bison men's soccer player in the last 20 years. Earlier this season, O'Brien built an 11-game points streak, a new school record.
This is the second significant honor for Selwood in the last week, as he was recently named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team for the second year in a row. Now he is an All-Patriot League selection in back-to-back years, although this is his first time on the first team.
Selwood has missed only one start in the last two seasons – that coming two weeks ago due to illness – and has been the leader of Bucknell's defense from his center back position. Like O'Brien in his second year as team co-captain, Selwood has anchored a standout defense that is allowing only 0.88 goals per game, the second-best figure in the Patriot League. Selwood has been named to all-tournament teams in each of the four tournaments in which Bucknell has played over the last two years, including the Nike Fall Classic and the Mayor's Cup this season.
Liberati is making his debut on the All-Patriot League Team. A hard-nosed defender who is one of the league's best in the air, Liberati has missed only one start over the last two seasons. This season he has played primarily center midfield, but also still plays some on the back line. He earned all-tournament honors at the Mayor's Cup after helping the Bison to the title with 1-0 wins over Hartwick and Syracuse.
Liberati has two assists this season, and in his career he has five goals and three assists. All five goals are on headers.
Bucknell's three All-Patriot League Second Team selections – King, Powell and Caso – are all first-time selections.
King has been a solid two-way player in the midfield, helping both offensively and defensively. Earlier this season he scored his first career goal against Navy, and it held up as the game-winner in an important 1-0 road win over the Midshipmen. An ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District First Team selection, King has started all 19 games this season and now has 36 career starts. He has a goal and two assists in 2009, and a goal and four assists in his career.
If the Patriot League had a “most improved” award, Powell certainly would have been in the running. He did not appear in a match as a freshman, but he won a starting spot on the back line this season and turned in a fantastic sophomore campaign. Also a standout high jumper and decathlete on the Bison track and field team, Powell brought an extra element of athleticism to the team and proved to be a force in the air. In addition to his solid defensive work, Powell has scored two goals this season, both of them coming in dramatic fashion. His goal in the 85th minute gave the Bison a 1-0 win over Saint Francis (Pa.) on Sept. 23, and on Oct. 24 he scored in the 89th minute in a critical 2-1 road win over Colgate. He was named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week after that performance.
Caso is also in the midst of an outstanding sophomore season. He has started all but two games this year and has allowed only 16 goals in 17 appearances for a 0.96 goals-against average, the second-best mark in the Patriot League. He has a 12-5 record and has posted a career-high seven shutouts, which is tied for ninth on Bucknell's single-season list. Caso won the Garth Stam Defensive Most Valuable Player Award at the Mayor's Cup after logging back-to-back clean sheets against Hartwick and Syracuse, and he is a three-time Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week.
This is Nash's third Patriot League Coach of the Year honor. He also won the award in 2000 and 2003. Earlier in the season he became the second coach in program history to record 100 wins. So far he has led the Bison to a program-record 14 victories in 2009, upping his career mark to 103-80-28. Nash guided Bucknell to the regular-season title, despite being picked fifth in the preseason poll.
Bucknell went 5-2 in conference play to secure its third outright Patriot League regular-season title. The Bison will host the Patriot League Tournament, beginning Friday evening with a pair of semifinal matches. Bucknell plays No. 4 Lafayette at 5 p.m. in the first game, followed by No. 2 Lehigh against No. 3 American on Friday at 8 p.m.
