After earning the top seed in the Freedom Conference Championship, setting a new program record for wins in a season and reaching the NCAA Tournament for the second time, the Manhattanville men's soccer team was justly rewarded on Wednesday by the conference's head coaches, as seven Valiants were named to the All-Freedom Conference teams.
Leading the way for Manhattanville are a trio of All-Freedom first-team selections. Senior captains Keston George (Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago/Victory Christian Academy) and Emil Sjoberg (Stockholm, Sweden/Tyreso Gymnasium) were named to the All-Conference first team for the fourth straight season, while junior forward Eros Olazabal (Milton, Ontario/Bishop Reding) was named to the first team for the first time after a breakout junior year.
In addition, four Valiants were named to the All-Conference second team. Graduate student Jason Torres (Harrison, N.Y./Harrison) and senior Adam Kent (London, England/Sutton Grammar) were named to the All-Freedom teams for the second time, while senior Daniel Carlryd (Gothenburg, Sweden/LM Engstrom) and junior Erick Olazabal (Milton, Ontario/Bishop Reding) earned their first All-Conference laurels as well.
The seven All-Conference honorees are the most since the program joined the Freedom Conference before the 2007 season and the most overall since eight Valiants were honored by the Skyline Conference following the 1999 campaign, which coincidentally was the year of Manhattanville's only previous NCAA Tournament appearance and the year in which the previous program record for wins in a season was set.
George completed a four-year sweep as an All-Conference first-team midfielder, ranking second on the team and fifth in the Freedom Conference with 10 goals and 25 points as a senior. The 2009 Freedom Conference Player of the Year and a two-time NSCAA All-Region honoree, he currently ranks fourth in program history with 35 goals and 90 points in his four-year career, while also ranking eighth in assists (20) and second in game-winning goals (11).
Sjoberg is another four-time All-Conference first-team honoree on defense, earning the honor despite playing in just 14 games this year due to injury. The senior still has three goals and one assist for seven points when he ventured into the offensive end for corner kick and free kick chances, while the two-time All-Region performer also played his customary terrific defense in the middle of the field and in the air for Manhattanville.
Eros also caps a record-setting junior season with his first career conference honor as one of four first-team forwards. Olazabal has shattered the previous program records for goals and points in a season, netting 26 goals and adding five assists for 57 points. His single-season goal total is second all-time in Middle Atlantic Conferences history and also is tied for second in Division III this season entering the national tournament. In three years, the forward has 31 goals and seven assists for 69 career points, ranking him fifth in goals and eight in points all-time at the school.
Kent has had a bounce-back senior season for the Valiants in the midfield, earning his second career All-Conference honor with a spot on the second team. Playing in and starting all 19 matches, the senior tied for second on the team with eight assists and added a pair of goals for 12 points. In 66 career games, the London native has scored four goals and assisted on 19 for 27 points, ranking him 10th in career assists as a Valiant.
Torres also is in the midst of a solid final season in a Manhattanville uniform, posting a 13-3-1 record with a 1.01 goals against average, a .717 save percentage and four shutouts. In 61 career games in goal for the Valiants, the grad student has won a program-record 36 wins with 19 losses and four ties, while posting a program-best 1.05 goals against average and a .717 save percentage. Torres also ranks first in program history with 21 career shutouts, including a program-record 803:34 shutout streak last season that is top-10 all-time in Division III.
While not quite as spectacular as his twin brother, Erick also had a very good season for Manhattanville as a junior, leading the Freedom Conference with 12 assists and adding three goals for 18 points in 17 matches. Thanks in large part to his nine connections with his brother, Erick enters the NCAA Tournament eighth in Division III in assists and also sixth in assists per game (0.71 apg). In three years, his 20 career assists tie him with George for eighth on the school's all-time list.
Rounding out the Valiant All-Conference honorees is Carlryd, who stepped up his game considerably as a senior and was rewarded with his first All-Freedom honor. In 16 matches, he scored three times and also tied for second on the team with eight assists to finish with a career-high 14 points, providing an effective offensive complement to Eros at forward. In three years with the team, the Sweden native scored 10 goals with nine assists for 29 points.
Led by their seven All-Conference honorees, Manhattanville will march into its second NCAA Tournament appearance on Saturday night, as the Valiants take on SUNY Brockport at 7:30 p.m. at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J. Fans that can't make it to Hoboken can follow the game with live video and live stats available on the men's soccer schedule page.