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Four Blue Demons Chosen for Soccer Academic Honor
CHICAGO - The DePaul men's soccer program has four more reasons to celebrate the 2009 season. Using their heads on the field as well as in the classroom, Nathan Feltz, Peter Sterbenz, Alex Mangan and Scott Freundlich were named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-Scholar Team for the North/Central Region. All four were chosen on the second team. This is the second-straight year Feltz and Sterbenz have received this distinction. They were third-team selections last year. "I'm so proud of all four of them," said DePaul soccer coach Craig Blazer. "We're competing in one of the most challenging soccer conferences in the country and continually finding ways to be successful." The Blue Demons have qualified for the BIG EAST Conference Championship tournament the last four years, advancing to the semifinals in 2007 and 2008 and to the quarterfinals last fall. Led by Mangan (eight goals), All-BIG EAST First-Team selection Steffen Vroom (eight goals) and BIG EAST All-Rookie Team choice Antonio Aguilar (three goals), DePaul scored 29 goals compared to 13 in 2008. Vroom became the first DePaul player to be selected for the Major League Soccer (MLS) Player Combine and left on Friday for Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The MLS SuperDraft is set for Thursday in Philadelphia. Blazer's program received the NSCAA Team Academic Award in 2009 for the fifth time in the last seven years. "We're very happy with the type of student-athlete we're bringing in to DePaul," Blazer said. "We are continuing to recruit student-athletes who can compete in the BIG EAST and also be successful in the classroom. "There's a great group of players returning for the 2010 season, and the coaching staff is excited about their development on and off the field. "We have had quite a bit of success recently, and there's more to come."
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