Purnell Honored as CACC ‘Rookie of the Year’
NEW HAVEN, CT (October 28, 2009) - Wilmington University senior forward Sargbah Tarpeh has been named the 2009 Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Men's Soccer Player of the Year in balloting released today. Philadelphia University's Ryan Purnell was tabbed Rookie of the Year, while Wilmington's Nick Papanicolas was voted Coach of the Year. Caldwell College won the annual Team Sportsmanship Award. The conference's 12 head coaches conducted the voting for the All-Conference team.
Tarpeh, a 5-11 senior forward from Philadelphia, PA, currently leads all of Divison II with 21 goals and is tied for first with 11 assists. His 53 points is a CACC Division II era single-season record, and he is one goal short of the single-season mark. Tarpeh has led Wilmington to a No. 3 ranking in the East Region and the Wildcats are also 12th in the nation. Tarpeh has been named the CACC Player of the Week three times this season and he is a four-time first team All-Conference performer. Furthermore, he is a three-time member of the NSCAA and Daktronics All-Region teams, respectively. He has netted six game-winning goals thus far in 2009.
Purnell, a 5-8 sophomore midfielder from Hamilton, Bermuda, has tallied 16 points this season behind five goals and six assists. He recently picked up his first collegiate game-winning goal with a tally against Mercy in a 1-0 victory. He also dished out two assists in a recent clash with conference front-runner Wilmington. Purnell was voted to the All-CACC second team and was named conference Rookie of the Week once this season.
Papanicolas was named Coach of the Year after guiding his team to its most successful season since joining the ranks of NCAA Division II. The Wildcats clinched the top seed for the upcoming CACC Tournament, which Wilmington will be hosting November 4-7. The Wildcats are 17-2 overall and ranked 12th nationally. Wilmington is ranked third in the NCAA East Region poll and second in the NSCAA regional poll. Papanicolas also claimed CACC Coach of the Year honors in 2006.
The complete All-CACC Men's Soccer team is listed on the following page. Five Wilmington student-athletes were named to the first team, along with three Dominican Chargers. Dominican senior forward Joe Wright earned first team accolades for the third time in his career.
2009 All-CACC Men's Soccer Team
FIRST TEAM (12 members due to a tie)
GK Brandon Heembrock Dominican So. Ottawa, Canada
D Dave Dease Wilmington Sr. Newfield, NJ
D Clifton Huxtable Dominican So. Toronto, Ontario
D Andrew Nelson Post Sr. Windsor, CT
D Jamal Wiggins Wilmington Jr. St. Thomas Central, Trinidad
M Nickalus McDonald Wilmington So. Philadelphia, PA
M Fatoma Turay Wilmington Sr. Philadelphia, PA
M Mike Semedo Post Sr. Waterbury, CT
F Svetozar Gladic Philadelphia Sr. Novi Sad, Serbia
F Sargbah Tarpeh Wilmington Sr. Philadelphia, PA
F Tim Weglicki Holy Family So. Philadelphia, PA
F Joe Wright Dominican Sr. Stratford-Upon-Avon, England
SECOND TEAM (12 members due to a tie)
GK Duhan Malali Wilmington Jr. Galloway, NJ
D Sean Campbell Philadelphia Sr. Westbury, NY
D Olof Engh Caldwell Jr. Karlstad, Sweden
D Dean Robinson Post Sr. Kingston, Jamaica
D Jolsten Watley Bloomfield Sr. St. Kits
M Diego Barahona Dominican Sr. Stamford, CT
M James Hamilton Dominican Sr. Paisley, Scotland
M Johan Pineda Post Sr. Lima, Peru
M Ryan Purnell Philadelphia So. Hamilton, Bermuda
F Seydou Ba Holy Family Jr. Mauritania
F Maurice Johnson Post Sr. Kingston, Jamaica
F Angel Rodriguez Goldey-Beacom Sr. Kennett Square, PA
Honorable Mention: Daniel Ocampo, Jr., D, Nyack; Mike Mousaw, Jr., M, Philadelphia; Pedro DeAraujo, Fr., M, Dominican; Jason Lopez, Jr., M, Holy Family
Player of the Year: Sargbah Tarpeh, Sr., F, Wilmington
Rookie of the Year: Ryan Purnell, So., M, Philadelphia
Coach of the Year: Nick Papanicolas, Wilmington
Team Sportsmanship Award: Caldwell College
