York Named AMCC Men's Soccer Defensive Player of the Year; 11 Earn All-Conference Honors

ERIE, Pa. – Penn State Behrend men's soccer senior goalkeeper Sam York (Akron, OH/Revere) was named the 2022 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) Defensive Player of the Year, headlining the All-Conference Team.

The Lions landed six on the All-AMCC first team, two on the second team and three on the third team for a total of 11 players. York joins, Blake Cooper (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional), Sean Abraham (Oakmont, PA/Riverview), John Ziobro (Westtown, NY/Minisink Valley), Justin LeDonne (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional) and Andrew Cassano (Bethel Park, PA/Bethel Park) on the first team.

Jonathan Swann (Allison Park, PA/North Allegheny) and Jac Caputo (Pittsburgh, PA/Montour) were selected to the second team, while Justin Hockenberger (Spencerport, NY/Spencerport), Zak Schwarzel (South Park, PA/South Park) and Nick Laskey (Charleroi, PA/Charleroi) were voted to the third team.

Beginning with York in goal, the Behrend entire starting defense chosen to the All-AMCC team. LeDonne, Cassano, Laskey and Schwarzel aided York in getting the team nationally ranked. York is ranked first in NCAA Division III statistics in shutouts with 11 and is third in goals-against average .348. As a team, the Lions are third in goals-against average (.316) and are eighth in goal differential 49 goals scored, only six allowed. Behrend only allowed one goal in conference play during the regular season and held opponents to just 29 shots, including just 13 on goal over seven games.

Offensively, the Lions looked to first-team selection Cooper, Hockenberger and Swann. The sophomore is second in the AMCC in points (26) and fourth in goals (10). In conference play, Cooper ranked sixth with four goals and three assists for 11 points. He has played in all 18 games, starting in 16 and netted two game-winning goals. Cooper tallied the lone goal for Behrend in the AMCC Championships. Hockenberger scored seven goals in seven conference games, while registering four goals against Hilbert. He is second on the team with nine goals overall for 18 points. Swann started in every game this season, including all seven conference games. He had three goals and four assists for 10 points in AMCC action, along with two game-winning goals. Swann leads the team with eight assists this season for 14 points.

In the midfield are Abraham, Ziobro and Caputo. Abrahan, a two-time captain, started every game this season. He netted the lone goal in the tie against Mt. Aloysius during the regular season, while helping the Lions to 13 shutouts, including six games in conference play. Abraham has two goals and three assists for seven points. Ziobro started every game this season, including all conference games and scored three goals and added one assist for seven points. Overall, he ranks third on the team with six goals and one assists for 13 points. Caputo played in 17 games, including seven in conference play. He scored his first collegiate goal in the AMCC semifinals vs. Pitt-Greensburg.

LeDonne, Abraham, York, Cassano and Schwarzel are making their second appearance on the All-AMCC Team.