WILLIAMSTOWN, MA – Four members of Mike Russo’s Williams men’s soccer team (14-2-1) headed to the NCAA Tournament this weekend at RPI to face Husson University have been named to the All-NESCAC First and Second Teams and senior Conor Smith was named the NESCAC Player of the Year.
Collecting First Team honors are junior forward Charles Romero (Mansfield, MA) and Conor Smith (Yardley, PA). Named to the Second Team were junior forward Gaston Kelly (Hingham, MA) and junior back Joe Vella (Manlius, NY).
Romero turned his first year starting up front into an offensive explosion scoring a team-high 10 goals to date and had a conference-best eight net stretchers. Overall in 17 games Romero has 6 game-winning goals and he tied for first in NESCAC with 4 game-winners. Romero leads the Ephs in points with 26 as he has recorded 6 assists to go along with his 10 goals.
“Charlie had no points in his first two years, but we knew he had the ability and potential to be a scorer,” said Eph head coach Mike Russo. “He works extremely hard and has the athletic ability to break down defenders one on one and he shares the ball.”
Smith was a dominant force for the Ephs in the back and
effective offensive contributor up front on corner kicks where he
utilized his 6’ 2” frame and athleticism to drill home
seven goals. Three times Smith knocked home the game-winner
for the Ephs.
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| Conor Smith '10 |
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| Charles Romero '11 |
“Conor is a senior captain with outstanding leadership attributes who has been indomitable in the back for us,” commented Russo. “No doubt he is our MVP. He is excellent in the air and with the ball at his feet. We missed him when he was out of our lineup for 3 games.”
Gaston Kelly moved from the front to outside in the Eph midfield and the move benefited him and the Eph attack. Kelly has a team best 13 assists and has tallied 6 goals for 25 points. He led NESCAC in assists this season with 8.
“Gaston’s our schemer in the midfield and he
delivers a great ball,” said Russo. “He’s totally
team-oriented with the ball and he has the ability to make everyone
better with his passing.”
The junior tandem of Romero and Kelly enabled the Ephs to field the most potent attack in NESCAC averaging 2.56 goals and 2.33 assists per game.
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| Joe Vella '11 |
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| Gaston Kelly '11 |
Joe Vella teamed with Smith along the Eph backline to help Williams limit NESCAC opponents to just 9.11 shots and 1.0 goal per game this fall. Vella had two assists on the year and he netted the game-winner in the annual regular season battle with Amherst held this year in Amherst in a pouring rain.
Vella’s stellar all-around play at the recent NESCAC Tournament earned him NESCAC Player of the Week honors for aiding the Ephs in securing the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tourney.
“Joe is a big game performer,” stated Russo. “He’s fantastic in the air and he’s a genuine competitor who held us together in the back when Conor was out.”
