WINTHROP, Mass. – The Mount Ida College men's soccer team won three major awards from the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) and placed a conference-high seven members on the 2015 All-Conference teams, which were announced Monday afternoon by Assistant Commissioner Mike Ghika.

Senior Carlos Martinez (Chelsea, Mass.) became the first Mustang to win GNAC men's soccer Offensive Player of the Year, freshman Juan Brenes (Santo Domingo, D.R.) earned Rookie of the Year honors, and Head Coach Joe Campbell was named GNAC Coach of the Year for the second time in the last three years.

Martinez also earned his third consecutive spot on the All Conference First Team, while freshman Alexi Flores (Central Falls, R.I.) and senior Luke Pugsley (Milton, Mass.) were Second Team selections and Brenes joined freshman Nick Vreeland (Berlin, Conn.), junior Tyler Grothusen (Ramsey, N.J.) and sophomore Riley Ford (Guilderland, N.Y.) on the Third Team.

With Martinez putting the finishing touches on his historic Mount Ida career and Brenes establishing himself in his rookie season, the pair matched each other with nine goals and two assists apiece, leading the team and tying for sixth in the conference in scoring.  

Martinez got better as the season progressed, ending the year with five goals in four games, three of them in the postseason, including both goals in a 2-1 quarterfinal win over Lasell. With his goal in a semifinal loss to Albertus Magnus, Martinez became the all-time NCAA program leader in career goals (26) and career points (67).

Brenes came out of the gate strong, scoring six goals in his first seven games, including the eighth hat trick in school history. He scored two game-winning goals this season, along with important goals in conference games against Suffolk, Johnson & Wales and Norwich and becomes the first Mustang to win Men's Soccer Rookie of the Year since 2009 (Will Daniels).

In his sixth year behind the bench, Campbell led the Mustangs to one of the best seasons in the school's 17 year NCAA history. Their 12-6-1 record marked the third most wins ever, and the most since the 2000 season. Mount Ida also compiled the most conference wins (7-1-1) of any team to date, and has now made back to back trips to the GNAC Semifinals.

Flores wowed Mustang fans with his playmaking ability, whether it was in the five goals he scored or the four on which he assisted. The speedy freshman will be best remembered this year for his overtime chip of the goalie which delivered a 2-1 win over Johnson & Wales for the Mustangs.

Pugsley was a work-horse for the Mustangs, playing both on the back line and in midfield and making a start in all 19 games this year. He delivered a clutch strike with a penalty kick goal in the final minutes to help Mount Ida topple Lesley, one of two goals the senior scored in his final season.

Returning to the All-Conference team for the first time since his freshman year, Grothusen was a mainstay in the Mount Ida defense in his junior season. He appeared in all 19 games, making 18 starts, and kept the defense organized while providing height and strength to the Mustang defensive unit.

An immediate impact maker as a freshman, Vreeland started 18 games this year as a central midfielder and was a key piece in Mount Ida's possession game. Vreeland scored twice this year, both of them game-winning goals, none bigger than the overtime winner he scored to help Mount Ida beat Norwich en route to the #2 seed in the GNAC table.

Taking over the starting role in his second season, Ford started all but two games and posted a 10-6-1 record with two shutouts. He made 83 saves and held a goals against average of 1.48. Ford stopped a pair of penalty kicks to preserve a home GNAC win over Albertus Magnus, one of the defining moments of his season.

Mount Ida will look to continue this historic season with a bid to the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) New England tournament, with those selections announced later today.