Elster, Igo, O'Rourke headline Seahawks with All-CCC honors
NEWPORT, R.I. - With its most impressive regular season ever, Salve Regina University men's soccer (15-0-3, 6-0-2 CCC) landed seven players on the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) All-CCC squad including major award winners in Offensive Player of the Year, Donald Igo (Needham, Mass.), Senior Scholar Athlete, Jordan Elster (Sutton, Mass.), and Coach of the Year, Craig O'Rourke II (Richmond, R.I.).
Igo and Elster were joined on the first team by seniors Matthew O'Donnell (Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Michael Payan (Fort Lee, N.J.), and junior Evan MacDonald (Candia, N.H.). Sophomores Owen Stevenson (Middletown, Conn.) and Casey Kelly (Waldwick, N.J.) were selected to the second and third teams, respectively.
Voting for the All-CCC Teams and major awards was conducted by the nine CCC head men's soccer coaches following the conclusion of the regular season.
Craig O'Rourke II on Donald Igo: "I'm happy to see Donnie get this award and recognition. July of 2017 was a turning point for our program when he contacted me about transferring to Salve Regina. Since joining our program last season, he has been one of the most dominant offensive threats and playmakers in our conference as well as the entire New England region. Most people only see his stats and think he's just a goal scorer, but we know that he brings a much larger set of abilities and a truly high and gifted soccer IQ to the table. His thoughts and insights, both in match and in training, about our tactics and team concepts are utterly indispensable and have helped shape us into the team that we are this season."
Craig O'Rourke II on Jordan Elster: "I am so happy to see Jordan win this award. His dedication in the classroom, in the gym, and on the playing field is what make him the absolute epitome of a true scholar-athlete. He has always gone above and beyond in everything that he does as a student and as an athlete for our program. His performance in the 2017 season led to him earning a multitude of awards. And this year he picked up right where he left off a season ago. He has been nothing short of an absolute stud for us on the width. He is a physical mismatch for nearly every player that he has come up against this season and teams have had to resort to changing their tactics and formations to try and find ways to stop him."
Craig O'Rourke II on Coach of the Year: "First and foremost, I'm honored to receive this award from our conference and even more honored in the fact that it was chosen by the other head coaches in this league. This collective group of men have very dilligently worked to make the Commonwealth Coast Conference one of the premier leagues in the country for men's soccer. Second, I still think that this award is somewhat misnamed and should be called the 'Coaching Staff of the Year.' The mark of every good head coach is to surround himself with knowledgible assistants, and I am very fortunate to have two exceptional ones this season in Jon DaCosta and Paul Criscione. Jon, in particular, has nothing short of an exceptional future ahead of him in the profession of coaching. Finally and most importantly, any coach is only as good as his team performs. This season I was absolutely blessed in terms of the roster of young men that we assembled. I knew early on in pre-season that the 2018 team was something special and they never ceased to train, work, and perform day-in and day-out this season. This senior class in particular is something really special, and while I know it is inevitable, I genuinely don't want to acknowledge the fact that they will be leaving me in the not so distant future."