UMBC

Printer Friendly  Email This Page
News Release

FIVE RETRIEVERS EARN ALL AMERICA EAST SOCCER HONORS

11/5/2003

Boston, MA—The regular season America East Champion UMBC Retrievers placed four players on the league’s 2003 Men’s Soccer First Team All Conference team.

Junior forward Derek McElligott (Greater Grace Christian Academy/Baltimore, MD), senior midfielder Michael Joseph (Calvert Hall/Baltimore, MD), junior midfielder Danny Mongello (Wilde Lake/Columbia, MD), and sophomore fullback Marcus Gross (Barnstaple, England) earned First Team honors. No other America East school had more than two players on the twelve member First Team.

In addition, freshman midfielder Kevin Mezzadra (Loyola-Blakefield/Fallston, MD) earned All Rookie Team honors.

McElligott earns his third First Team all-league recognition in his three seasons as a Retriever. This season, he tallied a career-high 15 goals and is currently fourth in the nation in goals per game (0.88). With 39 career goals, he is just two goals behind UMBC’s all-time Division I leader (Giuliano Celenza, 41, 1999-2000) and has moved into third place on UMBC’s all-time scoring list with 85 points.

Joseph, last year’s “Most Improved Player”, has taken his game to a new level, ranking second in the South Atlantic region with 10 assists. Mongello, second on the team with six assists, has created numerous scoring opportunities in 2003 with his blazing speed and accurate crosses from the right midfield position. Gross, an America East Player of the Week (10/20), scored goals in three straight games and quarterbacked a UMBC defense that was amongst the nation’s Top 20 in shutout percentage.

Mezzadra, a scoring machine at Loyola-Blakefield, made a very successful debut in a Retriever uniform, scoring three goals as he developed into a solid central midfielder.

Despite their first-place standing (5-1-3 America East, 10-2-5 overall), no Retriever earned any of the league’s top honors. Binghamton netmdiner Stefan Gonet was the AEC’s Rookie and Goalkeeper of the Year, Hartford’s Alon Lubezky was the Offensive Player of the Year, Binghamton fullback Galen Munro was the Defensive Player of the Year, and Maine Head Coach Travers Evans was AEC Coach of the Year.

The #1-seeded Retrievers await tonight’s winner of the #5Northeastern at #4 Boston University contest for Saturday’s semi-final match-up at 1pm at UMBC Soccer Stadium.