BUFFALO, NY – Just one day after finding out who they would play in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, the Medaille College Men's Soccer team received even more good news as the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference announced their 2017 All Conference Teams. The Conference Champion Mavericks were well represented with seven student-athletes earning either First, Second, or Third Team honors.
 
Sophomore Mitchell Ali (Southend, England, Southend) was named to the AMCC All-Conference First Team for the first time in his career after a magical season scoring 11 total goals and assisting on 6 more. In AMCC play Ali found the back of the net six times, including his first career hat trick against Penn State Altoona. Four of his six helpers cam in conference play as he finished the season with 16 total points in the AMCC. He saved his best for last as he scored Medaille's lone goal in overtime against D'Youville College in the AMCC Opening Round, ensuring a spot in the semifinals for the Mavs.
 
Sophomore Sam Beesley (Melbourne, Australia, Colingwood College) earned AMCC All-Conference First Team honors for the second straight season and was crucial as part of a back line that allowed less than one goal per game in conference play (0.97). In nine games was part of a back line that gave up 69 shots on goal less than what the Mavericks were able to throw at opposing goalkeepers and kept six clean sheets in the AMCC and only conceded one goal in the final six contests. Also was key offensively in a 4-3 overtime win at home against La Roche were he scored a career high 2 goals in one game. He finished AMCC play with 2 goals and 1 assist.
 
The second team was full of Mavericks as sophomore Lachlan Wilkinson (Terigal, Australia, Central Coast), fellow sophomore Anthony Marafioti (Melbourne, Australia, Penleigh & Essendon), freshman Kyle Ferguson (Hamilton, Scotland, Lanark Grammar), and fellow freshman Given Holy Gbode (Gillingham, England, St Thomas Apostle) were all honored with second team selections.
 
Marafioti was crucial as part of a back line that allowed less than one goal per game in conference play (0.97). In nine games was part of a back line that gave up 69 shots on goal less than what the Mavericks were able to throw at opposing goalkeepers and kept six clean sheets in the AMCC and only conceded one goal in the final six contests. He also had a knack for scoring, netting 7 goals and two assists in conference play including back-to-back multi goal games against Pitt Bradford (2) and Penn State Altoona (3) where he earned his first career hat trick. He finished the season with eight total goals, five assists, 21 points and an assist on the biggest goal of the year in the AMCC Championship against Penn State Behrend.
 
Gbode was the one to finish Marafioti's assist in the AMCC Title Game, being selected to the All-Conference Second team for the first time in his career. Gbode was very good up front for the Mavericks who were the highest scoring team in the AMCC in 2017. Gbode scored 4 goals and assisted on two others in conference, earning two multi-goal games in the process. He scored 2 in the Mavs AMCC opener against Mount Aloysius and two again in a crucial 3-0 win over Franciscan University.
 
Wilkinson continued his stellar play from his freshman season, adding nine total goals and eight assists in his second season. In AMCC play he had six goals and two multi goal games, including a hat trick against Penn State Altoona that saw him end the afternoon with 7 total points. He had points in seven of the Mavs nine conference games, totaling an amazing 17 total points in conference. He also scored the game winning goal in all three AMCC games where he found the back of the net. Perhaps the biggest goal of his career came in the AMCC Semifinal, when he scored the game winning goal against Mount Aloysius to send the Mavericks to the AMCC Final for the second consecutive season.
 
Ferguson was crucial as part of a back line that allowed less than one goal per game in conference play (0.97), earning an All-Conference Second Team selection as a freshman. In nine games was part of a back line that gave up 69 shots on goal less than what the Mavericks were able to throw at opposing goalkeepers and kept six clean sheets in the AMCC and only conceded one goal in the final six contests. He was a big, intimidating force on the pitch that also caused havoc on set pieces scoring two goals including the game winner against Pitt Bradford.
 
Rounding out the honors for the AMCC Champions was freshman Pablo Ballesteros (Madrid, Spain, John Henry Newman Intl) who was named to the AMCC All-Conference Third Team. Ballesteros came on strong in the second half of his first season. He earned more playing time throughout and became a consistent midfield starter as conference play opened. He scored two goals and dished out 4 assists as he quarterbacked the midfield for the Mavs.
 
The season continues for Medaille in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday evening, when they travel to (19) Otterbein University for their First Round matchup at 5:00 pm.