Somerset, NJ -- The Northeast Conference (NEC) announced its 2018 men’s soccer major award winners and All-Conference selections tonight, highlighted by Saint Francis U senior forward Mario Mastrangelo (Venetia, PA/Peters Township) winning the NEC Player of the Year award. 
 
NEC regular season champion LIU Brooklyn took home three of the four major honors, which were announced at the annual pre-tournament banquet hosted this year by the top-seeded Blackbirds.
 
LIU sophomore defender Erik Johansson (Angelhom, Sweden/Angelholms Gymnasteskala) earned NEC Defensive Player of the Year recognition and fellow Blackbird Sam Ilin (Brooklyn, NY/Midwood) earned the NEC Rookie of the Year accolade. LIU head coach TJ Kostecky and his assistants were named the NEC Coaching Staff of the Year.
 
Mastrangelo, a three-time All-NEC first teamer, was named the NEC Player of the Year award after he led the league in goals (9) and points (24), and ranked second in assists (6) during the regular season. The Venetia, PA native recorded a pair of multi-goal games in league play to lead the Red Flash to a 5-1-2 NEC record and a runner-up finish in the league standings. He enters the postseason with 36 career goals to rank third in program history. A two-time NEC Player of the Week this season, Mastrangelo became the first-ever SFU student-athlete to be voted the NEC Player of the Year.
 
Johansson anchored a stout LIU defense that surrendered just seven goals in conference play en-route to the NEC regular season crown. The Blackbirds ranked third on the NEC leaderboard in goals against average (1.21), while recording four shutouts. The sophomore defender from Angelhom, Sweden played in all of LIU Brooklyn’s 17 games and recorded an assist in a win over Mount St. Mary’s. Johansson, who was tabbed to the NEC All-Rookie team as a freshman, is the first Blackbird to win the NEC Defensive Player of the Year award.
 
The fifth NEC Rookie of the Year award honoree in LIU Brooklyn history, Ilin made an immediate impact between the pipes. Winning his first six matches after taking over as the full-time starter in late September, the local product finished with an 8-3 record during the regular season. He leads the conference in save percentage (.806), ranks second with a 1.01 goals against average and sits fourth with four shutouts. Ilin joined Dan DeOliveira (1987), Carlos Bravo (1988), Paul Schenider (1994), Rafael Solano (1997) and current teammate Rasmus Hansen (2015) as winners of this award.  
 
Kostecky has now led LIU to two NEC regular season titles in the last four years, with the veteran head coach and his assistants earning NEC Coaching Staff of the Year honors on both occasions. Under Kostecky, the Blackbirds have finished with doubledigit wins in three of the last four seasons and are gunning for their third NEC title in his tenure. As a team, LIU Brooklyn reeled off nine straight wins at one point and finished 6-2 in conference play. The Blackbirds rank second in the NEC in goals per game (1.59) and third in goals against average (1.21) heading into the postseason.
 
AWARD WINNER HIGHLIGHTS
 
LIU Brooklyn led the way with five All-NEC first team selections and seven All-NEC honorees overall. Saint Francis U placed three on the All-NEC first team and had four total All-NEC honorees, while Fairleigh Dickinson landed a pair of all All-NEC honorees and four overall. Robert Morris, Sacred Heart and St. Francis Brooklyn were each represented with two honorees apiece.
 
LIU senior forward Rasmus Hansen (Greve, Denmark/Brondby Gymnasium) made his fourth consecutive appearance on the All-NEC first team. The 2017 NEC Player of the Year finished the regular season with three game-winners and is tied for the team lead with five tallies on the year to raise his career total to 33 goals. 
 
It was an LIU Brooklyn sweep on the first team All-NEC back line with Johansson joined by senior Filip Nordström (Stockholm, Sweden/Solna Gymnasium) and junior Marius Koss (Oslo, Norway/Valerenga). Making his second first team appearance, Nordström also provided offensive punch with eight assists, which leads the NEC and ranks in the top-20 nationally. LIU’s fifth first team honoree was sophomore midfielder Fredrik Mathisen (Oslo, Norway/Persbraaten), a two-time NEC Player of the Week this season who heads into the NEC Tournament as the team leader in goals (5) and points (14).
 
Saint Francis U sported a pair of midfielders on the All-NEC first team in sophomores Christian Kirchhoff (Aarhaus, Demark) and Kevin Smolyn (Holland, PA/Germantown Academy). Kirchhoff is tied for second in the circuit with six assists, while Smolyn ranks second on the Red Flash with seven points. 
 
Fairleigh Dickinson redshirt senior midfielder Ahu Obhakhan (Drogheda, Ireland/St. Joseph CBS) made a return appearance on the All-NEC first team. Obhakhan currently leads the NEC and ranks in the top-25 nationally with four game-winning goals. He is second in the league with eight goals and 17 points. Fellow Knight Jahmali Waite (Philadelphia, PA/YSC Academy) went from All-Rookie a year ago to first team All-NEC goalkeeper. The sophomore from Philadelphia leads the conference in goals against average (0.88) and is tied for first in shutouts (5).
 
Robert Morris senior forward Zac Sherman (Mechanicsburg, PA/Mechanicsburg) capped his career with his first All-Conference selection. The All-NEC second team honoree led the Colonials in both goals (5), assists (4) and points (14), all top-10 figures in the NEC rankings. Classmate Owen Pearce (Markham, Ontario/Bill Crothers Secondary) was tabbed a second team all-star in the midfield. Pearce finished first on the Colonials in assists (4) and second in points (12).
 
Central Connecticut senior forward Louis Beddouri (Bordeaux, France/Lycee Lauga Bayonne) repeated as an All-NEC second teamer. He paced the Blue Devils with seven goals and 14 points to rank third and fourth, respectively, amongst league leaders.
 
There were three rookies who were voted to the All-NEC second team, most notably NEC Rookie of the Year Sam Ilin (Brooklyn, NY/Midwood) from LIU Brooklyn. FDU freshman defender Tony Herbert (Brooklyn, NY/Progress) and Sacred Heart sophomore midfielder Zander Hyltoft (Aalborg, Denmark/Tradium, Mariagerfjord) were also honored.
 
About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 38th year, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to four of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Pittsburgh (#22), Baltimore (#26), and Hartford/New Haven (#30).  Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 22 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 15 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary’s, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. Merrimack will join the NEC as a full-time member in July, 2019. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (http://www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (http://www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat, all @NECsports.