Garcia and Geiler Earn Postseason BIG EAST Awards
11/14/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 14, 2013
CHESTER, PA. - The Seton Hall University men's soccer program saw a pair of student-athletes pick up postseason All-Conference honors as senior midfielder Max Garcia (Jersey City, N.J.) was named Second-Team All-BIG EAST and freshman midfielder Samuel Geiler (Offenburg, Germany) was named to the BIG EAST All-Rookie Team, it was announced Thursday night at the 2013 BIG EAST Annual Banquet.
Garcia wraps up a stellar four-year career by earning All-BIG EAST accolades for the first time in his career. He amassed 19-career goals and nine assists for 47 points while donning a Pirate uniform, leading the Hall in scoring in 2011 and 2012 while ranking second on the team in goals, assists and points in 2013.
The explosive midfield tandem of Garcia and Geiler guided Seton Hall throughout its 2013 campaign. In his first collegiate season Geiler notched a team-high eight goals to go along with four assists to lead the Pirates with 20 points, while Garcia scored five times and turned in his fourth-straight season of at least five goals and 11 points.
Against BIG EAST competition it was the same two players pacing the Seton Hall offense. Garcia scored three of his five goals during conference play and added three assists to lead all SHU players with nine points. He tied for sixth in league play in points, ninth in goals and fourth in assists. Geiler ranked second on the team in BIG EAST action scoring twice with two assists for six points.
Garcia battled lingering injuries to start the season but really saw his offensive game get on track in the Pirates' BIG EAST opener at Providence when he converted on a first-half penalty kick to begin a stretch of three goals in four games. His biggest goal of the season came in the Pirates' 2-1 victory over Villanova on Oct. 9, where he headed in what proved to be the game winner in the 83rd minute against the Wildcats; It was Geiler on the other end picking up the assist with a perfectly placed pass to the far post.
In a decisive 3-1 victory over DePaul on Oct. 19, Garcia tied his career-high of two assists, and tallied his third league assist on a first half score in Seton Hall's 3-2 victory over No. 22 Creighton. He rounded out his Second-Team All-BIG EAST season with a second-half score at No. 18 Marquette on Nov. 2.
Geiler burst onto the scene to start the year, scoring three goals in the first two games of the season to earn BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week honors, becoming the first Pirate to receive the weekly conference honor since 2008. He also recorded two-goal games in victories over NJIT and Creighton, netting a career-high five points in the win over the Highlanders.
The second goal in the win over Creighton proved to be the game-winner, his second of the season, and he did so by converting a PK in the 33rd minute. Geiler had both of his BIG EAST assists come against Villanova, including the cross to Garcia for the game-winner.
Providing arguably the most exciting moment of the season back on Sept. 10, Geiler was responsible for netting the game-winner with fewer than 10 seconds remaining in double overtime in a victory over Delaware, closing out a game the Pirates trailed 3-0 at the half before coming all the way back to grab the win moments before the end of competition.
Seton Hall finished its 2013 campaign with a 7-9-2 overall record and a 3-6 mark in BIG EAST play. The Pirates recorded the most overall and BIG EAST victories since the 2007 season and scored the most goals as a team (27) since 2008.
2013 BIG EAST Men's Soccer Awards
BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year
Steve Neumann, Georgetown
BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year
Nick Hagglund, Xavier
BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year
Joey Dillon, Georgetown
Bryan Ciesiulka, Marquette
BIG EAST Rookie of the Year
David Goldsmith, Butler
BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year
Tomas Gomez, Georgetown
Charlie Lyon, Marquette
BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year
Georgetown
All-BIG EAST First Team^
Joey Dillon, Georgetown, M
Tomas Gomez, Georgetown, GK
Charlie Lyon, Marquette, GK
Axel Sjoberg, Marquette, B
Nick Hagglund, Xavier, B
Tim Parker, St. John's, B
Brandon Allen, Georgetown, F
*Steve Neumann, Georgetown, F
C. Nortey, Marquette, F
Zach Steinberger, Butler, M
Bryan Ciesiulka, Marquette, M
Zach Barnes, Creighton, M
All-BIG EAST Second Team
Rafael Diaz, St. John's, GK
Jose Ribas, Creighton, B
Keegan Rosenberry, Georgetown, B
Brendan Hines-Ike, Creighton, B
David Goldsmith, Butler, F
Timo Pitter, Creighton, F
Julian Gressel, Providence, F
Sean Sepe, St. John's, F
Matt Walker, Xavier, F
James Mulligan, St. John's, M
Max Garcia, Seton Hall, M
All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention
Bruno Castro, Creighton, MF
Louis Bennett II, Marquette, MF
Eric Pothast, Marquette, B
Brandon Adler, Providence, B
Phil Towler, Providence, MF
BIG EAST All-Rookie Team
David Goldsmith, Butler, F
Fabian Herbers, Creighton, M/F
Ricardo Perez, Creighton, M
Bakie Goodman, Georgetown, M
*Alex Muyl, Georgetown, F/M
Joshua Yaro, Georgetown, B
*Louis Bennett II, Marquette, M
Coco Navarro, Marquette, F
Julian Gressel, Providence, F
Samuel Geiler, Seton Hall, M
Jalen Brown, Xavier, M
*denotes unanimous selection
^due to a tie in voting, one member was added to the First Team
