Nov. 12, 2008

PHILADELPHIA - Charlotte's Chris Salvaggione was named the Offensive Player of the Year while Zack Simmons of Massachusetts earned Defensive and Student-Athlete of the Year honors in voting conducted by the league's head coaches.

In that same vote, Ben Arikian of Massachusetts was tabbed the league's Midfielder of the Year, George Washington's Yoni Berhanu was named Rookie of the Year and Massachusetts head coach Sam Koch earned Coach of the Year honors. Simmons was named Student-Athlete of the Year for the second straight year in a vote of the A-10's sports information directors.

Salvaggione leads the Conference in goals (15) and points (38) and ranks fourth nationally in points per game (2.0). He also leads a potent Charlotte attack that ranks seventh nationally in scoring offense (2.22). The Monument, Colo., native earned Atlantic 10 Player of the Week honors twice this season and is a two-time member of the Soccer America, Soccer News and TopDrawerSoccer.com Teams of the Week. The forward earned two MVP awards at a pair of regular season tournaments and had three multi-goal performances.

Simmons ranks second in the A-10 in goals against average (0.83), goals allowed (16) and save percentage (.814) while leading his team to the A-10 regular season title and top seed in this week's A-10 Championship (Nov. 13-16). A native of Durham, N.H., the senior goalkeeper was a preseason All-American and also earned accolades off the field by being named the Student-Athlete of the Year for the second straight season. He boasts a 3.99 grade point average while majoring in history and economics. A three-time Academic All-Conference and two-time NSCAA All-East scholar selection, Simmons is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Arikian earned the league's Midfielder of the Year honor. He leads the top-seeded Minutemen in points (14) and assists (six), while his assist total ranks third in the A-10. The sophomore from West Islip, N.Y., contributed four goals on the year and has scored or assisted the game-winning goal in eight of Massachusetts' nine wins.

Berhanu has enjoyed an impressive rookie season for George Washington. The midfielder from Potomac, Md., was third on the team in goals (four) and points (11) and earned the season's first A-10 Rookie of the Week honor. He was named to the DC College Cup All-Tournament team and netted a game-winning goal in overtime versus Duquesne. The honor is George Washington's first Rookie of the Year award since 2001.

Salvaggione, Simmons and Arikian are joined on the All-Conference first-team by Dayton's Florian DeCamps; Chris Brown and Mark DeSantis of Massachusetts; Temple's J.T. Noone; Calum Angus and Kyle Patterson of Saint Louis; Andy Stadler from George Washington; and Fordham's John Pardini.

The second-team is comprised of Berhanu; Rhode Island teammates Kedan Crosby, Erkko Puranen and Dwayne Williams; Temple's James Suevo and Tyler Witmer; Brandon Barklage, Pat Disbennett and Tim Ream of Saint Louis; Mike DeSantis from Massachusetts; Duquesne's Stefan Lundberg; and Alex Torda of Dayton.

Berhanu, Puranen and Witmer headline the All-Rookie team which includes Fordham teammates Matt Courtenay, Aaron Markowitz and Ryan Meara; Evan James and Charles Rodriguez of Charlotte; Alex Johnston from Saint Louis; La Salle's Tom Kalpokas; and Jack Pearson of Dayton.

Simmons is joined on the Academic All-Conference team by teammate Dan Lepone; La Salle's Andrew Bernhard; Matt Chevrollier and J.T. Noone of Temple; Charlotte's Adam Gross and David Martin; Pat Disbennett and Kyle Hayes of Saint Louis; Ben Horner and Stefan Lundberg of Duquesne; and Dayton's Alex Torda.

In his 17th season at Massachusetts, Koch earns his fourth A-10 Coach of the Year honor after leading the Minutemen to the A-10 regular season title and the No. 1 seed in the 2008 Atlantic 10 Championship. The most successful coach in program history, Koch has guided the Minutemen to four regular season Atlantic 10 titles, one Atlantic 10 Championship and made a College Cup appearance in 2007. Koch boasts a career record of 179-122-31 (.586) and is a 1979 graduate of Colby College.