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University of Massachusets Athletics
Arikian & Cleverdon Named To A-10 All-Conference Teams
November 11, 2010 | Men's Soccer
Nov. 11, 2010
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - UMass senior forward Ben Arikian and freshman midfielder Tyler Cleverdon were each named to Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams as announced by the league office on Wednesday afternoon. Arikian was named to the All-Conference Second Team, while Cleverdon was named to the All-Rookie Team.
The Minutemen finished the 2010 season with a 5-5-8 overall record and a 4-2-3 mark in Atlantic 10 play. UMass narrowly missed the A-10 Tournament after ending the regular season in a three-way tie for sixth.
Arikian, one of the top midfielders to don the Maroon & White, played in 82 matches with 11 career goals and 23 assists for 45 points. He had two goals and a team-best six assists this season for 10 points. The native of West Islip, N.Y., finished his career fourth all-time in program history with his 23 assists.
During his career, he was a two-time Hermann Trophy Watch List selection, a two-time NSCAA All-Region First Team pick, a two-time Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team selection, and the 2008 A-10 Midfielder of the Year.
Prior to UMass, Arikian was a 2005 All-American at West Islip High School with a post-graduate year at Berkshire Prep (2007). He tallied 47 assists and 33 goals for his prep career.
Cleverdon, a native of Ellington, Conn., started 16 matches in his rookie season scoring two goals and adding one assist. His first career goal was the game-winner against Central Florida, while his second goal of the season came against Dartmouth. Primarily a defensive midfielder, Cleverdon helped the UMass defense pitch five shutouts and a 1.00 goals against average.
Prior to playing at UMass, Cleverdon was a 2009 graduate of Ellington High School where he was an All-American selection as a senior, a two-time All-State honoree and a two-two time All-New England pick. He helped lead Ellington to a pair of Class M State Championships as well.
COMPLETE ATLANTIC 10 MEN'S SOCCER ALL-CONFERENCE RELEASE BELOW:
La Salle's Ryan Richter was named the 2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Men's Soccer Offensive Player of the Year, while Charlotte's Charles Rodriguez and Tyler Gibson were tabbed the league's Defensive Player of the Year and Midfielder of the Year, respectively, in voting conducted among the Conference's head coaches.
In that same vote, Gibson was honored as Rookie of the Year and La Salle head coach Pat Farrell was selected as Coach of the Year. In a vote of the A-10's sport information directors, Richter was also recognized as the Student-Athlete of the Year.
Richter, a senior forward, currently leads the league in seven statistical categories, including shots (89), shots per game (5.24), points (30), points per game (1.76), goals (14), goals per game (0.82) and game-winning goals (7). He has tallied seven of the Explorers game-winning goals this season and had three golden goals in games decided by 1-0 margins. The Southampton, Pa., native was named A-10 Player of the Week twice during the fall and has led La Salle to its fourth appearance in the A-10 Championship - its first since 2004.
Rodriguez anchored a 49ers defense that recorded nine shutouts and limited 13 foes to a goal or less this season, while playing with three different goalkeepers. The Franklin, Tenn., native also recorded a trio of game-winning goals - all against A-10 competition. Rodriguez closed out the regular season with eight points on three goals and two assists in his 18 appearances on the pitch.
Gibson has directed the Charlotte midfield throughout the season, playing in all 18 of the team's games and ranking among the 49er leaders in both goals and assists. The Nashville, Tenn., native finished the regular season with 12 points on four goals, including one game-winner, and four assists. He helped Charlotte to the top seed in the A-10 Championship, the 49ers highest seed in program history.
Richter, Rodriguez and Gibson are joined on the All-Conference first team by Charlotte's Andres Cuero and Donnie Smith; Duquesne's Simon Gomez and Stephan Lundberg; Fordham's Ryan Meara; Dwayne Williams of Rhode Island; St. Bonaventure's Dave DiNardo and Temple's Cody Calafiore. The A-10 All-Conference second team consists of Issac Cowles of Charlotte; Dayton's Jack Pearson and Tyler Picard; Fordham's Tim Richardson; George Washington's Seth Rudolph; La Salle's Dan Korenyi; Ben Arikian of Massachusetts; Richmond's Houston Oldham along with Benny Estes, Michael Robson and Alex Sweetin of Saint Louis.
In addition to being selected as the Midfielder of the Year, Gibson headlines the All-Rookie team as well. The Nashville, Tenn., native is joined by fellow freshmen - Duquesne's Simon Gomez; La Salle's Jidell Roach and John McCarthy; Tyler Cleverdon of Massachusetts; Richmond's Spencer Schiff; Emmett O'Connor and Brad Vanino of St. Bonaventure; Jon Roeckle of Saint Louis; Temple's Vaughn Spurrier and Xavier's Nick Hagglund.
In addition to his athletic achievements, Richter, the A-10 Men's Soccer Student-Athlete of the Year, was also recently named to the 2010 CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District first team, after receiving second team honors a year ago. The Explorer team captain, an A-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll recipient, owns a 3.35 cumulative grade point average, while majoring in marketing.
Richter is joined on the Academic All-Conference team by Dayton's Nate Dombrowski and Tommy Watkins; Ben Horner, Stephan Lundberg and Joshua Patterson of Duquesne; La Salle's Nick Dundon; St. Bonaventure's Kevin Okapal; James Dice of Saint Louis along with Xavier's Sean Ryan and Andy Dimbi.
Farrell, currently in his 23rd year at the helm of the Explorers men's soccer program, recently guided La Salle back to the A-10 Championship for the fourth time in school history and first since 2004. Farrell's squad earned the second seed in the upcoming Championship, after posting an 8-6-3 overall record and 6-2-1 mark in league play. Farrell is the winningest coach at La Salle.
