WESTERN NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE

NSCAA All-America Team

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Western New England College defender Alex Dos Santos (Ludlow, MA) wasn't going to let an early-season injury keep him down.

Late Friday (Dec. 11), the junior co-captain was named to the 2009 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA)/Performance Subaru Men's Soccer Division III All-America Second Team.

Dos Santos helped anchor the Golden Bears' defense unit that set a school record with 16 shutouts this past season. He also scored three goals despite missing games with an injury.

Earlier, Dos Santos was named to The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC)  and NSCAA New England Division III First Teams. He is an Accounting major.

Dos Santos is the third Western New England College player to gain NSCAA All-American recognition in the last four years. He was the only TCCC player to gain the award this season.

Present WNEC assistant coach and former midfielder Tim Larocca made the honor team in 2006 while former back Jim Maples was a 2008 selection.

Western New England College finished with a 16-5-4 record and captured its third straight conference tournament title. Advancing to the NCAA Division III Championship for the sixth consecutive year, the Golden Bears defeated Babson (1-0) in a first-round match, then tied No. 11 Wesleyan (1-1) before the host Cardinals advanced on penalty kicks (5-4).

Coach Erin Sullivan on Alex Dos Santos
"I know I speak for everyone in the Western New England College Soccer family when I extend our sincerest congratulations to Alex Dos Santos and his family on this highest honor. Despite missing several games to injury, Alex had another phenomenal season and was a tremendous leader both on and off the field. He dictates the tempo of every game he plays in and is the consummate
competitor in every sense of the word.

"I really have to credit Joe Pantuosco, Alex's legendary coach at Cathedral high school, for introducing me to Alex when he was only a junior and encouraging him to consider Western New England. Additionally, Joe Calabrese, my former assistant coach and Alex's Western United club coach (now Utica College men's soccer coach), also gets a lot of credit for cultivating Alex's self-confidence and leadership. The fact that Alex has had such high level coaches from his youth days in Ludlow all the way up to the college level has made him a field general unlike any other. It is fitting that he joins Tim Larcoca and Jim Maples, two warriors in their own right, as our third NSCAA All-American in the past four years.

"Every so often a player comes into your program that elevates the entire landscape of the team. Alex has done this and so much more. I have never been approached by so many people in the extended athletic family who have taken time out to comment on one of our players. Countless people have pulled me aside and made unsolicited compliments about Alex as a student, an athlete, a worker, and a person. Much of the credit for this comes from Alex's deeply connected and religious family. He is a first-rate human being, a privilege to coach, and one of the humblest people I know."