Posted: Oct 30, 2015

Senior Scholar, Offensive Player of the Year go to Salve Regina

Joseph Pate, Steven Aston, Nolan Brady, Richie Finizio

NEWPORT, R.I. - Salve Regina junior Nolan Brady (Needham, Mass.) and senior Joseph Pate (Smithfield, R.I.) headline a list of four Seahawks receiving end-of-season accolades from the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) in men's soccer. Student-athletes from all 10 member institutions in the league were represented on the 2015 All-CCC Men's Soccer Team. Brady was selected as an Offensive Player of the Year in addition to a first-team recognition, while Pate earned the conference's Senior Scholar Athlete award.

Joining their teammates with honors are junior Steven Aston (Sherborn, Mass.) and sophomore Richie Finizio (Fort Lee, N.J.).

"I'm very happy for each of these young men to receive this recognition," said Salve Regina head coach Craig O'Rourke II. "Brady, Aston, and Finizio have been nothing short of exemplary for us all season long and I'm pleased to see that the other coaches in our conference recognize their talent and give them the All-Conference nod. And I am absolutely overjoyed to see both Brady and Pate earn two of the conference's major awards. I think Brady definitely deserved Offensive Player of the Year after what he was able to put up for stats, especially when you consider the fact that he started the season in our central midfield and was only moved up top to the role of striker after the halfway point of the season. And what can you say about Pate? He has virtually accomplished it all in his career – three-time academic all-conference, two-time all-conference soccer team, NSCAA scholar all-region last year, CoSIDA Academic All-American© nominee this year … and now he adds the conference's Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year award to his already quite full and impressive resume. By winning this award, he follows in the illustrious footsteps of both Brian Sweeney (recipient 2012) and Jacob Weinshank (recipient 2014) and gives our program three of the last four Senior Scholar-Athletes of the Year."

Brady currently leads all CCC players with 12 goals and is tied for the conference lead with 27 total points entering the upcoming CCC Championship. In addition to being the leading scorer on the CCC's second-highest scoring offense, Brady's 10 goals against CCC opponents is four more than any other player in the league. His 21 total points in conference play leads the circuit by seven. Brady's most prolific stretch this season came October 10-17, when he notched five goals in the Seahawks' back-to-back wins over Roger Williams and Eastern Nazarene. Brady's stellar play has lifted Salve into the fifth seed in the impending CCC Tournament.

Pate, a senior captain, is concluding a four-year career at Salve Regina. In addition to making 72 appearances and 63 starts for the Seahawks, Pate has excelled academically. Sporting a 3.93 GPA as an accounting/business administration major, Pate has been honored as a four-year recipient of the Salve Regina University Presidential Scholarship, one of the university's highest possible awards for academic merit. He has earned a place on the SRU dean's list every semester. A spring 2014 inductee into the Chi Alpha Sigma chapter of the National College Athlete Honor Society, this student-athlete leader also serves as a team mentor, tutor, and Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) member and has participated annually in his team's community service project. The three-time Academic All-CCC honoree and two-time men's soccer All-CCC award recipient is a candidate for honors in the NSCAA Scholar and CoSIDA Academic All-American© programs. Upon graduation, Pate has been accepted to the Salve Regina MBA program.

Aston, a junior captain, also represents his team and school as the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) liaison for the Commonwealth Coast Conference.

Finizio ranks seventh in the league, and second on the Seahawks behind Brady, in scoring (18 points in 17 games played.

Salve Regina (6-9-2, 4-4-1 CCC) finished fifth in the regular season and plays at fourth-seeded Wentworth (13-4, 6-3 CCC) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. in a CCC quarterfinal. The Leopards triumphed, 1-0, in the regular-season meeting on October 3 at Gaudet Field.