West Babylon, N.Y. – After winning the East Coast Conference Regular Season Championship, LIU Post nearly swept the All-Conference major awards, coming away with four of the five top honors. Johan Mauritzson (Halmstad, Sweden) was named Defensive Player of the Year, Oliver Hessner Hansen (Vaerloese, Denmark) earned the Goalkeeper of the Year honor, Lukas Ostermann (Saterland, Germany) was selected the Rookie of the Year, and Andreas Lindberg won Coach of the Year for the Pioneers. Gabriel Torres (Salvador, Brazil) of University of the District of Columbia was the lone award winner not from LIU Post, claiming the Offensive Player of the Year award.
Torres put together an amazing offensive performance during the 2017 season. The sophomore finished the regular season atop the ECC leaderboard with 19 goals, 10 assists, and 48 points. His statistics not only led the ECC, but nearly all of Division II, as well. Heading into ECC Championship play, Torres' goal and point total rank No. 2 in the country, while his assist total is good for seventh. He also ranks among the national leaders with 2.67 points per game (2nd), 1.06 goals per game (5th), 0.56 assists per game (17th), and seven game-winning goals (3rd).
Mauritzson anchored a back-line that ranks first in the ECC with 16 goals allowed and a 0.97 goals against average.. Mauritzson's performance also helped LIU Post shut out five opponents on the season, three of which came during the Pioneers' ECC schedule.
Hessner Hansen had an outstanding first season in green and gol, finishing with a 12-0-2 record in net. The junior transfer made 64 saves on the year, good for an ECC-leading .821 save percentage. His save percentage was also ranked No. 18 in all of Division II. In addition, Hessner Hansen finished second in the ECC with a 0.97 goals against average and five shutouts.
Despite his status as a graduate student, Ostermann qualified for the Rookie of the Year award due to 2017 being his first-ever season of intercollegiate competition. He did not disappoint in his debut campaign, finishing with 14 goals, five assists, and 34 points on the year. His goal total was third in the ECC and 12th in Division II while his point total was good for second in the ECC behind Torres and 13th in the nation. Ostermann's rookie season culminated with six goals over the Pioneers' final two regular season games, earning him the United Soccer Coaches Division II National Player of the Week honor.
For the sixth time since taking over the LIU Post program in 2009, Andreas Lindberg has been selected as the Coach of the Year by his peers. Under Lindberg's guidance, the Pioneers finished with an unbeaten mark of 14-0-2 during the regular season, all of which the Pioneers spent ranked in the top-10 of the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll. Lindberg also led the squad to an 8-0-1 mark in ECC play, making it seven straight years and eight out of nine that the Pioneers earned at least a share of the ECC Regular Season Championship.
2017 ECC Men's Soccer All-Conference
First Team
F - Charlie Ledula, Jr., LIU Post
F - Dan Massey, Jr., Molloy
F - Gabriel Torres, So., Dist. Columbia
M - Carlos Coto, Sr., NYIT
M - Lucca Lacerda, Jr., Mercy
M - Martin Lozano, Gr., LIU Post
M - Harry Pearse, Sr., LIU Post
B - Michael Agboola, Jr., Dist. Columbia
B - Love Fredrikson, Fr., LIU Post
B - Johan Mauritzson, Sr., LIU Post
GK - Oliver Hessner Hansen, Jr., LIU Post
Second Team
F - Emgi Gousse, So., Queens
F - Lukas Ostermann, Gr., LIU Post
F - Raphael Pacano, Sr., Dist. Columbia
M - Andras Breuer, Jr., Queens
M - Danny Gavin, Gr., Mercy
M - Kelvin Herrera, Jr., Dist. Columbia
M - Jason Mayorga, So., Dist. Columbia
B - Jose Carvajal, Sr., Mercy
B - Alejandro Del Cura, Sr., NYIT
B - Brad Neal, Jr., St. Thomas Aquinas
GK - Kwantarian Van der Lara, Sr., Mercy
Third Team
F - Noah Keem, Fr., Daemen
F - Simon-Peter Omooba, Jr., NYIT
F - Ericson Penate, Sr., Mercy
M - Adam Carnwath, Sr., Molloy
M - Anthony Cestaro, So., Molloy
M - Kevin Martinez, Fr., NYIT
M - Gabriel Velluto, Fr., Dist. Columbia
B - Jay Abreu, Sr., Bridgeport
B - Victor Salinas Furio, Gr., Dist. Columbia
B - Daniel Watson, Gr., Mercy
GK - Raul Bonilla, Jr., Molloy
GK - Jonathan Rico, Sr., NYIT
Offensive Player of the Year: Gabriel Torres, So., F, Dist. Columbia
Defensive Player of the Year: Johan Mauritzson, Sr., B, LIU Post
Goalkeeper of the Year: Oliver Hessner Hansen, Jr., GK, LIU Post
Rookie of the Year: Lukas Ostermann, Gr., F, LIU Post
Coach of the Year: Andreas Lindberg, LIU Post
