Lehigh’s Forrest gets better with time
Hill School alum named Patriot League POY
The Patriot League honored its best men’s soccer players on Nov. 6 and at the top of the list was Lehigh junior Mark Forrest.
The 6-foot-3 forward from Douglassville (The Hill School) was named the league’s Offensive Player of the Year and a first-team selection after he lead the league in both goals and points and his 15 goals are tied for second and his 38 points are second in NCAA Division I. He’s also fifth in points per game (2.00) and ninth in goals per game (0.79).
“Mark had an incredible season,” coach Dean Koski said. “Scoring 15 goals at the Division I level is very difficult and given the competitive schedule we played this year, his total is even more remarkable.”
The coach said that Forrest worked hard to improve his finishing the past three years.
“And, I’m sure he will work even harder to develop as one of the top forwards in the country,” Koski said. “I’m very excited that he has another year and I hope he can help us win another championship (the team won it in 2015) before he graduates.”
Lehigh was 11-5-2 overall and finished 7-1-1 in league play during the regular season. But the season ended with a 3-0 loss to Holy Cross in the league quarterfinals on Nov. 7 in Bethlehem.
“While we had a successful season, it was a disappointment not to advance to the semifinals,” Koski said. “Our focus will certainly be improving ourselves defensively and developing some forwards that can complement Mark.” MORGAN ALDINGER (UPPER PERKIOMAN) » The senior was named to the PSAC first team after a solid season with the Kutztown field hockey team. A solid defender, she had three goals and seven assists for 13 points during the regular season. Aldinger has played in 72 games with 70 starts for the Golden Bears and has 13 goals and 13 assists for 39
points. East Stroudsburg junior Bailey Quinn (Phoenixville) was named to the second team after she scored 12 goals with an assist for 25 points with a game-winner and a defensive save. Indiana senior Madelyn Mullen (Owen J. Roberts) was a third-team pick. She had five goals and three assists for 13 points. LAUREN SCHWEPPE (OWEN J. ROBERTS) »
The Middlebury standout and Lebanon Valley’s Maddie Fox (Upper Perkiomen) were selected to play in the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Senior Game next Saturday in Louisville, Ky. Schweppe, named to the New England Small College Athletic Conference first team, has four goals and six assists for 14 points with a game-winner and a defensive save. Fox, a MAC Commonwealth second team choice, has six goals and two assists for 14 points with a game-winner. Alvernia’s Andrea Wysocki (Boyertown) was named as an alternate. BRENDEN VALVERDE (DANIEL BOONE) »
The Penn State Berks freshman soccer player was named the North Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year on Nov. 1 after he broke a pair of Nittany Lions’ records in his first college season. Valverde had 22 goals and six assists for 50 points with four game-winners. The goals and points are Berks records. Despite his performance, the Nittany Lions finished the season with a 9-9-1 record after losing 4-1 to Lancaster Bible in the league quarterfinals. SIMONE VAGNONI (SPRINGFORD) »
The senior was named to the Big Ten Conference first team for the second straight year for her stellar play with the Michigan State field hockey team. Vagnoni has been a key member of the back line in her career with the Spartans and this season she added to the offense with six goals and two assists for 14 points with two game-winners. The team finished 8-11 after dropping a 3-0 decision to Maryland in the league quarterfinals on Oct. 29. Vagnoni started 73 games during her career. KELLY TORNETTA (POPE JOHN PAUL II) » The honors continue to come in for the junior Muhlenberg women’s volleyball player. The 5-foot-8 outside hitter was named to the Centennial Conference first team for the second straight season on Nov. 6 and was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association North Region first team on Nov. 9. Tornetta led the 24-6 Mules and the league in kills with 376, the sixth highest in team history. She was third in digs (266), second in service aces (36) and had a solid .249 attack percentage. WYATT FABIAN (THE HILL SCHOOL) »
The senior defender was named to the Centennial Conference first team for his play with the Franklin & Marshall men’s soccer team. He has started all 18 games for the Diplomats who will take an 11-5-2 record into the NCAA Division III Tournament. Fabian, from Sinking Spring, had two goals and an assist and picked up the gamewinner when he scored the first goal in a 5-0 victory over Ursinus on Oct. 7 in Collegeville. He’s a key performer on a defense that has limited foes to just 18 goals with eight shutouts. LIZTAMBURRO(OWENJ.ROBERTS)»
The senior wrapped up her career as goalkeeper for the Ohio State field hockey team by starting all 19 games this season and all 73 games the Buckeyes played in her four seasons with the team. Tamburro gave up 29 goals (1.47 goals against average) and had 90 saves (.756) with four shutouts this season. She and the Buckeyes finished with a 10-9 record after losing 3-0 to Michigan in the Big Ten Conference quarterfinals on Oct. 29. Tamburro had nine saves in her final game. JERRY WILLIAMS (SPRING
FORD)» The senior defender picked a great time to score his first goal of the season when he put a header into the back of the net to give the Gordon men’s soccer team a 1-0 victory over Western New England in the Commonwealth Coast Conference semifinals on Oct. 31 on its home field in Wenham, Mass. The 136-1 Fighting Scots dropped the final 1-0 to Endicott on Nov. 3 in Beverly, Mass. Williams keyed a defense that limited foes to just 12 goals (0.59 goals against average) with 11 shutouts. RACHEL YENNEY (PERKIO- MEN VALLEY) »
The senior was named to the PSAC third team for the second straight season on Nov. 3 for her play with the Bloomsburg women’s soccer team. She started all 18 games and tied for the team lead in points with 13 on four goals and five assists. Freshman Mackenzie Gebhardt (Upper Perkiomen) was third on the team in scoring with 11 points on five goals and an assist. The Huskies finished 9-6-3 overall and 8-5-3 in league play and was beaten 1-0 by West Chester in the PSAC quarterfinals on Oct. 31. LIZ STIERLE (SPRING-FORD) »
The senior had a solid final season playing with the Arcadia field hockey team, the Knights finishing 10-10 after a 1-0 loss to FDU-Florham in an ECAC Tournament game on Nov. 8. Stierle was solid on both ends of the field. She started all 20 games and had five goals and three assists for 13 points with two gamewinners. On the back side, she had six defensive saves. She entered this season having played in 38 games with 28 starts and recording one assist to go along with two defensive saves in the game for her team.