Aug. 18, 2010

AMHERST, Mass. - Senior midfielder Ben Arikian earned his third preseason honor of 2010 as he was named to the College Soccer News All-America Second Team. He joined Mike Roach of Saint Louis as the two representatives of the Atlantic 10. Arikian has also been named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch and was an All-Atlantic 10 preseason selection.

This is the second consecutive year that Arikian has been named to the CSN All-America Second Team as well as to the Hermann Trophy Watch. The complete College Soccer News Pre-Season All-America teams can be viewed at http://www.collegesoccernews.com/index_files/Page413.htm.

Arikian is a two-time NSCAA All-Region First Team pick, a two-time Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team selection, and the 2008 A-10 Midfielder of the Year.

The West Islip, N.Y. native has played in 63 career matches at UMass scoring nine goals while adding 17 assists for 35 points. He has five career game-winning goals. Last season, he factored into four game-winning goals either scoring or setting up the go-ahead tally. In 2008, Arikian scored or assisted the game-winning goal in eight of UMass' 10 wins.

As a freshman in 2007, he was named to the Soccer America All-Freshman Second-Team and to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team after scoring two goals and netting a team-high six assists for 10 points.

Prior to UMass, Arikian was a 2005 All-American at West Islip High School with a post-graduate year at Berkshire Prep (2007). He tallied 47 assists and 33 goals for his prep career.

Arikian's time at UMass has coincided with two of the program's best seasons in its 77-year history. In that span, UMass has posted a 34-23-7 overall record, made two NCAA Tournament appearances, were NCAA National Semifinalists in 2007, won the 2007 Atlantic 10 Tournament Title and won the 2008 A-10 Regular-Season Title.

The midfielder's tenacious play has helped drive that success as six of his 17 career assists have come against team's ranked in the top-20 nationally. In 2008, he set-up three of the four goals scored in two wins over perennial national power Saint Louis. His two assist effort last year against the No. 10 Billikens combined with his dramatic double-overtime golden goal two days later against Charlotte earned him NSCAA National Player of the Week honors. In 2007, he picked up a pair of assists in the NCAA Tournament. In the NCAA Second Round, Arikian set-up the game-tying score against No. 1 Seeded Boston College to fuel one of the biggest upset wins not only in UMass soccer history, but in the history of all UMass athletics.

The youngest of four children, Arikian's older siblings were also standouts on the pitch. His sister Beth and brother Shane were both starters at Stony Brook. Beth was an All-Conference selection as a senior, while Shane still holds the school record for goals in a game (4). Courtney Arikian was a four-time all-conference standout at Loyola (Md.) and ranks fourth all-time in goals and points.

UMass finished the 2009 season with a 7-7-3 record, and narrowly missed the postseason tournament. The Minutemen will return nearly all team members for the 2010 season.

The 2010 season begins on Sept. 1 at Boston University (7 PM). Out of 18 regular-season games, the Minutemen will be at home 11 times beginning Sept. 6 against Harvard. A weekend series against UCF (9/17) and national power Indiana(9/19) will kick-off an eight-game home stand.

The UMass men's soccer team has been picked to finish sixth in the Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll as announced by the league on Monday. Saint Louis was selected to defend its 2009 league title followed by Charlotte.

The top six teams in the 14-member league will qualify for the Atlantic 10 Tournament which will be held on Nov. 11-14 at Charlotte. The tournament champion will receive the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. UMass won the league title (and regular-season title) in 2007 and had an at-large berth in 2008.