25 Salve Regina Student-Athletes Named to NEFC All-Academic Team

NEWPORT, R.I. - The Salve Regina University football team placed 25 student-athletes on the 2009 New England Football Conference (NEFC) All-Academic Team, which was released today.

Seniors Patrick Horrigan (Peabody, Mass.), Brian Kirkland (Stoneham, Mass.), Matt Shubert (West Bridgewater, Mass.), James Solomini (Braintree, Mass.), Jeff St. Onge (Kingston, N.H.), Zach Szymanski (Dracut, Mass.), and Matt Wierzbicki (Wethersfield, Conn.) joined juniors John Fall (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Craig Hein (Sandwich, Mass.), Jonathan Norman (Brooklyn, Conn.), Mitch Roshong (Verona, N.J.), and Clayton Slawson (Madison, Conn.) as honorees.

The sophomore class is represented by Spencer Ambrosius (Traverse City, Mich.), Jeff Bartek (North Haven, Conn.), Michael Dargan (Meriden, Conn.), Mark DeMaio (Guilford, Conn.), Anthony DePaolo (Southington, Conn.), Chris Dieselman (Amesbury, Mass.), David Guerriero (Quincy, Mass.), Austin Hall (Coventry, R.I.), Shane Lange (Branford, Conn.), Colin McQueen (Exeter, N.H.), Matt Petersen (Bristol, Conn.), Nick Piscitelli (North Haven, Conn.), and Zac Szyndlar (Plymouth, Conn.).

A total of 254 student-athletes representing the conference's 16 institutions were honored, up from last season's total of 224. In order to qualify, a student-athlete must have completed three semesters at the same institution with a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or better (based on a 4.0 scale). Salve Regina's 25 student-athletes are second only to MIT's 31 student-athletes. Last year, the Seahawks ranked seventh with 15 student-athletes on the squad. Horrigan, Kirkland, and Shubert are three-year all-academic team selections while Fall, Guerriero, Norman, Piscitelli, and Roshong are repeat selections.

The breakdown behind MIT and Salve Regina is as follows: Endicott (24), Western New England (23), Plymouth State (21), Bridgewater State (17), Curry (16), Coast Guard, Westfield State, and UMass Dartmouth (14), Massachusetts Maritime (13), Nichols (12), Worcester State (11), Fitchburg State and Maine Maritime (seven), and Framingham State (five).

A First Team All-NEFC selection, St. Onge established Salve Regina single-season records for completions (190), completion percentage (63.1), passing yards (2,421), and touchdown passes (16). A two-time NEFC Offensive Player of the Week and three-time Honor Roll selection, St. Onge also led the Seahawks in rushing with 562 yards and 10 touchdowns. He finished the regular season leading the NEFC in total offense (270.4 yards per game) and second in passing yards. St. Onge graduates as the school's all-time leader in completions (467) and completion percentage (58.3 percent), second in passing yards (5,016), third in passing touchdowns (33), and fourth in rushing touchdowns (21).

Shubert hauled in 22 passes for 394 yards and four touchdowns from the tight end position, earning First Team All-NEFC honors. He caught a season-high five passes for 103 yards and a score in a win at Bridgewater State on Sept. 19 and also racked up 89 receiving yards at Nichols on Oct. 10. For his career, Shubert notched 46 receptions for 734 yards and seven touchdowns, which is tied for fifth all-time at Salve Regina.

The Seahawk offense finished seventh in scoring in the NEFC (24.6 ppg), in large part to the play of Kirkland, who was a second team all-division selection in 2008 and 2009. One of the Seahawks four captains this season, Kirkland was a key blocker for St. Onge, allowing him to rush a team-high 10 touchdowns while passing for a career-high 16 touchdowns. Fall, meanwhile, recorded 26 tackles (nine solo) and one QB hurry from the nose tackle position to earn Second Team All-NEFC honors. Szymanski chalked up 47 tackles (28 solo) and six pass breakups in his final season as a Seahawk.

Dargan was a Second Team All-NEFC selection after catching a school-record 60 passes (t-1st, NEFC) and racking up 755 receiving yards (3rd, NEFC), which is the second-highest single-season total in school history. Against Endicott on Sept. 26, he set a school-record with 224 receiving yards and also caught 10 passes for 153 yards and a score against Western New England on Oct. 31, a performance which earned him NEFC Honor Roll accolades. Only a sophomore, his 930 career receiving yards are fourth on SRU's all-time list.

A converted tight end, Lange finished second on the Seahawks with 89 tackles (45 solo) and also tallied five sacks and six QB hurries. He recorded 10+ tackles on four occasions, including a season-high 16 against MIT on Oct. 24. He earned NEFC Honor Roll accolades after recording 10 tackles (five solo), four QB hurries, and one sack against Endicott on Sept. 26. As a result, he earned Second Team All-NEFC honors.

Horrigan recorded five tackles (three solo) in four games last season while Wierzbicki rushed for 32 yards and a touchdown and Hein tallied 25 tackles (10 solo) in 10 games. Solomini was a jack-of-all-trades player for head coach Chris Robertson as he rushed for 39 yards, registered 36 tackles (20 solo), racked up 35 punt return yards and broke up four passes.

With regards to the rest of the junior class, Norman appeared in three contests, Roshong completed five-of-eight passes for 54 yards, and Slawson recorded 209 yards on five kickoffs. Piscitelli heads the sophomore class as he tallied 52 receptions for 465 yards and three touchdowns while Bartek recorded 30 tackles (15 solo). Peterson led the team with three interceptions, Szyndlar tallied 28 tackles (17 solo), Dieselman appeared in all 10 games, DePaolo played in eight contests (three solo tackles), Guerriero played in seven (eight tackles), McQueen appeared in four (three tackles), DeMaio played in three (one tackle), Ambrosius in two, and Hall in one.

The Seahawks finished the 2009 season 4-6 overall (3-4 NEFC).