Somerset, NJ -- A six-match unbeaten streak to close out the regular season yielded a substantial collection of hardware headed for the St. Francis Brooklyn men’s soccer program.
 
The Terriers won four of the five major year-end awards, highlighted by the crowning of senior forward Nicolas Molina (Buenos Aires, Argentina/St. Catherines Moorlands) as the NEC Men’s Soccer Player of the Year.
 
SFBK junior Harald Sollund (Viken, Norway/Frederik II (Martin Methodist College) was tabbed the NEC Defensive Player of the Year and his teammate, sophomore Callum James (Swansea, Wales/Cwmtawe Community School), was recognized as NEC Goalkeeper of the Year.
 
To cap the awards haul for the Terriers, Tom Giovatto and his assistants earned distinction as NEC Coaching Staff of the Year for the third time.
 
LIU freshman striker Emil Jaaskelainen (Bolton, England/Bolton School) was honored as NEC Rookie of the Year.
 
The awards were announced on the eve of the NEC Championship match pitting St. Francis Brooklyn against longtime rival LIU. Kickoff is at 1:00 pm at Brooklyn Bridge Park.
 
The fourth player in St. Francis Brooklyn history to secure NEC Player of the Year accolades, Molina wrapped the regular season as the league leader in assists (three), and ranks second in points (nine) and fifth in goals (three). He scored at least one point in five of the Terriers’ seven matches this season and played a role in six of the team’s nine goals. Molina was also named NEC Player of the Week on March 30. The Buenos Aires, Argentina native joined SFBK legend Duke Shamo - a two-time winner in 1997 and 1998 - and Clint Marcelle (1988) as NEC Player of the Year award recipients for the Terriers.
 
Sollund anchored a stingy SFBK backline that conceded a mere five goals in seven matches, allowed more than one goal just once and held opponents to less than four shots on goal per outing. Sollund, who hails from Norway, also provided an offensive lift with a goal in SFBK’s 2-1 win over Mount St. Mary’s on March 15. The junior is the third NEC Defensive Player of the Year honoree in Terrier annals along with recent winners Collyns Laokandi (2015) and Faouzi Taieb (2016).
 
The inaugural NEC Goalkeeper of the Year award went to James, who heads into the postseason ranked second in the NEC in GAA (0.81) and third in save percentage (.783). The sophomore from Swansea, Wales registered a pair of shutouts and yielded just two goals in the flow of play all season with the remaining tallies coming on PKs.
 
Jaaskelainen wasted little time in becoming one of the most feared strikers on the circuit. The Bolton, Sweden product tallied four goals, three assists and 11 points on the year to rank first in the NEC in all three categories. He compiled a four-match goal scoring streak and has put at least one point on the board in six-of-seven contests. One of just two NEC freshman voted first team all-conference, he became the third straight LIU player and eighth in program history to be named NEC Rookie of the Year, joining Papa Ndoye (2019), Sam Ilin (2018), Rasmus Hansen (2015), Rafael Solano (1997), Paul Schneider (1994), Carlos Bravo (1988) and Dan DeOliveira (1987).
 
Giovatto has built St. Francis Brooklyn into an NEC power, highlighted by three regular season titles and four NEC Tournament championships since 2013. This season, he once again helped navigate the Terriers to the top of the NEC standings with a 5-1-1 mark on the strength of a suffocating defense that yielded just five goals on the year. Giovatto, who has posted a 125-85-34 mark in his tenure, is the fourth three-time NEC Coach of the Year award winner, joining ex-SFBK coach Sam Carrington, who was recognized in 1991, 1998 and 1999, CCSU’s Shaun Green and Monmouth’s Rob McCourt, a four-time recipient.
 
AWARD WINNER HIGHLIGHTS
 
St. Francis Brooklyn earned a league-best four All-NEC first team nods and tied with LIU for the most combined first and second team selections with five apiece. Merrimack landed four All-Conference honorees followed by three for Fairleigh Dickinson.
 
LIU looks to be a formidable opponent for SFBK in the NEC final after the two teams played to a scoreless draw in both team’s regular season finale. The Sharks possess an explosive weapon in first team all-star Jonas Dovland (Oslo, Norway/Francis Marion), who is tied with Jaaskelainen for the league lead with four goals, two of which were game-winners. Junior defender and first team pick Fridtjof Andberg (Lillehammer, Norway/Lillehammer videregående skole (La Salle)), along with defender Henry Haferkorn (Datteln, Germany/Gesamtschule Bergerfeld Gelsenkirchen) and goalkeeper Demetri Skoumbakis (Chania, Greece/Nea Kydonia) - both second team selections - anchored a near impenetrable Sharks defense that posted a league low 0.65 GAA on the year.
 
FDU lockdown defender Hugo Bacharach (Benicasim, Spain/Colegio La Magdalena) joined Jaaskelainen as the lone freshmen tabbed to the All-NEC first team. With freshman striker Jeremy Opong (Brampton, Ontario) earning second team plaudits, the duo will serve as a strong nucleus for the Knights to build upon heading into next season.

CCSU defender Ivan Farias-Martinez (Los Angeles, CA/Lina Marquez) also collected second team honors as a freshman.
 
There were no repeat honorees on the NEC first and second team, although Merrimack junior defender Stefano Pesenti (Camisano, Italy/I.I.S. Galileo Galilei Crema) and sophomore midfielder Alessandro Negri (Noverasco, Italy/Fondazione Sacro Cuore) were All-Rookie picks back in 2019. Pesenti was voted to the first team as the centerpiece of a defense that allowed just six goals in five matches. Negri earned second team All-NEC status.
 
Bryant junior midfielder Ben Williams (Unionville, Ontario/Bill Crothers Secondary) and Merrimack junior forward Frantz Pierrot (Melrose, MA/Melrose (Saint Joseph’s)), both tied for the conference lead with four goals on the year, were rewarded with first and second team All-NEC accolades, respectively.
 
Of the 22 players to land a spot on All-NEC teams, just four are seniors and nine are underclassmen.
 
ABOUT THE NORTHEAST CONFERENCE
Now in its 40th anniversary season, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout seven states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to a number of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Boston (#9), Baltimore (#26), Hartford/New Haven (#33) and Providence (#53). Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 24 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 16 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU, Merrimack, Mount St. Mary’s, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, all @NECsports.