WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Two members of the Eastern Connecticut State University men’s soccer program have been recognized for their academic accomplishments by the National Soccer Coaches’ Association of America (NSCAA).

Senior forward Maxim Fantl (West Hartford, Conn.) has been selected first-team All-America and senior midfielder Chris Bourdeau (Thompson, Conn.) honorable mention all-region as part of the 2009 NSCAA/adidas Men’s College Scholar All-America program.

A physical education major with an overall 3.62 GPA, Fantl was one of only 22 players chosen to the College Division All-America team and was one of 11 first-team All-East Region selections. A physical education major with an overall 3.69 GPA, Bourdeau was among 106 College Division selections from the East Region, which was comprised of Division II and III institutions located from Maine to Virginia and as far west as Ohio.

Candidates needed to have attained junior academic status, to have at least a cumulative 3.30 GPA, be a starter in more than half of their games and be a significant contributor. First-year transfers were not eligible.

Earlier this month, Fantl was recognized for his academic accomplishments as a second-team selection to the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine College Division All-District I Team.

Fantl was one of only 11 first-team All-America selections and one of only three of the 22 All-America honorees from a New England institution and the only recipient from the Little East Conference. Fantl and Bourdeau were among only four of 106 All-East Region picks from the Little East Conference.

This year, Fantl became the program’s first three-time selection to the NSCAA All-New England Team when he repeated as a first-team selection and also repeated as the Little East Conference Offensive Player-of-the-Year and was named ECAC New England Offensive Player-of-the-Year for the first time. He led the Warriors in goals and points for the fourth time in his career, repeated as the Little East Conference goals champion and was second this year in the conference in points after topping that category as a junior. He set a personal season mark this year with 17 goals and matched his personal season best from a year ago with 40 points. He concluded his career ranked third all-time in program history in scoring (49-20-118).

A two-time team captain, Fantl has also qualified for an Eastern/E-Club Outstanding Scholar-Athlete Award in both years of eligibility in his career.

Bourdeau started all 44 matches in his two-year Eastern career after transferring from the Division II level in the spring of 2008. A second-team all-conference pick this past fall, Bourdeau led the 2008 team in minutes played. He contributed five goals and three assists in his career, three of his goals proving to be game-winners. Both of his game-winning goal this past season came on the opening weekend of the year against 2008 NCAA qualifiers MIT and Babson College at the Babson College Invitational. Against Babson, his early second-half goal on a corner kick held up as the only goal by either team in the match.

The first-team All-America team consisted of three forwards, two midfielders, five defenders and one goalkeeper and the first-team all-region team was comprised of three forwards, three midfielders, four defenders and one goalkeeper.

All NSCAA All-America and Scholar All-America selections will be honored at the annual All-America Luncheon January 16 in Philadelphia as part of the 2010 NSCAA Convention.

In addition to winning its second conference playoff title in three years and qualifying for post-season play for the third time in as many years under third-year head coach Greg DeVito, Eastern was awarded the inaugural Little East Conference men’s soccer Team Sportsmanship Award after being assessed only seven yellow cards and no red cards in 22 matches. The yellow card total was half the number assessed its nearest conference competitor and 34 less than the conference team with the most yellow cards.

This past year, Eastern equaled the 40-year-old program record of 16 wins (16-5-1) and carried an eight-game winning streak into NCAA tournament play. The Warriors won their last 11 matches against New England opponents.


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