Trinity's Garcia; DePauw's Sprenkel highlight 2010 All-SCAC Men's Soccer Team

Trinity's Garcia; DePauw's Sprenkel highlight 2010 All-SCAC Men's Soccer Team

SUWANEE, Ga. – Trinity University, on the heels of its sixth undefeated conference season since 2003, was rewarded with three of the four major awards in exclusive 2010 all-SCAC voting by the league’s head men’s soccer coaches. Zack Garcia was selected SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Year, Yuri Ribeiro was voted conference Newcomer-of-the-Year, and Trinity head coach Paul McGinlay, for the sixth consecutive year and 12th time overall, was named the SCAC Coach-of-the-Year. Complete Release

In the same balloting, DePauw University’s Nathan Sprenkel was tabbed as SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year.

Zack Garcia, a junior midfielder from Dallas, Texas and a team captain for the top-ranked Tigers, is currently third in the league with 29 points and is tied for third in goals scored with 12. His five assists are good for seventh in the SCAC rankings. A second team all-America selection a year ago, Garcia has been an integral part of Trinity’s run in the NCAA tournament and is without a doubt one of the countries best, most influential players. He is the fourth consecutive Trinity player to earn SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Year honors.

In being selected the league’s Offensive POTY, Garcia received seven votes from the coaches. Sophomore midfielder Connor Silvestri of Hendrix College and senior forward Alex Keller of Southwestern University received two votes each, and junior midfielder Mark Lavery of Oglethorpe University received the remaining vote.

Nathan Sprenkel, a junior goalkeeper from Zionsville, Ind., tied the DePauw single-season record and led the SCAC in shutouts with 12. An incredibly talented keeper who anchored the Tigers’ back line, Sprenkel allowed just eight goals in 1657 minutes in net for a league-low 0.43 goals against average (the fifth lowest single-season total in SCAC history). Solid in the air and the team’s best athlete, Sprenkel also posted the best save percentage in the conference among all keepers, stopping 63 of 71 shots on goal (.887 save percentage). He is the third consecutive DePauw player to win or share SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Year honors.

Sprenkel received six votes for SCAC Defensive POTY, followed closely by sophomore defender Dennis Mask of Trinity who received four votes. Senior defender Fernando Leon of Southwestern received the remaining two votes. 

Yuri Ribeiro, a first-year forward from Salvador, Brazil, leads Trinity and is tied for the league lead in goals scored with 15. His 35 points this season lead the SCAC and his five game-winning goals are the second-most in the conference. Ribeiro, who has played in every game this season, leads all first-year players in scoring and has been a major catalyst behind Trinity’s high-powered offense, which leads all of Division III in goals scored (86) and goals scored per game (3.91). He is Trinity’s first Newcomer-of-the-Year recipient since Robert C’deBaca in 2006.

Ribeiro received nine votes in the Newcomer-of-the-Year voting, followed by first-year midfielder George Elliott of DePauw with two votes. First-year defender Cory Gonzalez of Birmingham-Southern College received the remaining vote.

Coach Paul McGinlay guided the top-ranked Trinity men to another SCAC title, the program’s 14th overall and 13th in the last 15 years. In his 20th season as the head coach of the Tigers, McGinlay has amassed an overall record of 336-59-23 (.831) heading into this weekend’s sectional round. Trinity has amassed a 19-2-1 overall mark this season after securing a win and an advancement on penalty kicks in the first two rounds of this season’s NCAA tournament. McGinlay, a 12-time SCAC Coach of the Year honoree, led his team to an undefeated and untied conference mark – the ninth time in his career he has accomplished that feat. This also marks the Tigers’ seventh visit to the sectional round in its last nine NCAA tournament appearances.

McGinlay received six votes from his peers in the COTY voting. Brad Hauter of DePauw and Don Gregory of Southwestern split the remaining six votes.

For the complete 2010 All-SCAC Men's Soccer release, click here.