Big East Tourney has a Boca Flavor
October 31, 2005
When the 2005 Big East Conference men’s soccer tournament kicks-off this Wednesday, it will have a certain blue and gold flavor to it as three Jersey Shore Boca standouts, Andrew Hawtin, Chris Konopka and Justin McGrath have helped propel their respective schools into this years Championship Tournament for a chance to play in the 2005 NCAA Division I Men’s College Cup.
Big East Tourney has a Boca Flavor
Hawtin, Konopka and McGrath propel teams into 2005 Conference Tournament
TOMS RIVER, NJ (October 31, 2005) – When the 2005 Big East Conference men’s soccer tournament kicks-off this Wednesday, it will have a certain blue and gold flavor to it as three Jersey Shore Boca standouts, Andrew Hawtin, Chris Konopka and Justin McGrath have helped propel their respective schools into this years Championship Tournament for a chance to play in the 2005 NCAA Division I Men’s College Cup.
Hawtin, a skillful defender and 2003 Toms River East graduate, has started in all 18 regular season games for the Syracuse University this year.
The junior transfer from Ocean County College has recorded one assist for the Orangemen who finished in 6th place in the Big-East Red Division with a conference record of 3-6-1 (7-8-3 overall).
Syracuse travels to the Notre Dame on Wednesday for a 7pm first round conference Tournament game against the Irish.
Konopka, another 2003 Toms River East graduate, helped Providence College clinch a 2005 Big-East Tournament spot as he recorded his fourth shut-out of season, which is the most by a Friar squad since 1998, in their 1-0 win over Pittsburgh last Saturday.
The standout goalkeeper has played all 1,495 minutes between the pipes for Providence this year, has a 0.96 goals against average and .812 save percentage.
Providence, which enters the 2005 Big-East Tournament for the third time in the past four years and is seeded in 6th place in the Blue Division with a conference record of 3-3-4 (5-3-7 overall), travels to Cincinnati Wednesday evening for a first round game which kicks-off at 7pm.
McGrath, a 2004 Monsignor Donovan graduate, has helped Seton Hall University secure a 2nd place finish in the Big-East Blue Division with a conference record of 6-3-2 (12-3-2 overall).
The talented midfielder who hails from Brick, NJ has played in all 17 games for the Pirates, scored 5 goals and dished-out 3 assists.
Seton Hall which has a bye during the first round of the conference tournament, will host the winner of the Providence/Cincinnati game on Saturday afternoon in South Orange.
Hawtin, Konopka and McGrath, all long-time Jersey Shore Boca veterans, were members of the Boca U20 team this past summer that advanced to the semi-finals of the USASA U20 Regional Championship as well as the semi-finals of the MSSL Cup Championship.
Jersey Shore Boca has a record fifty-five club standouts who previously played for Boca on either their Men’s, Super Y-League, PDL, Club or Youth teams that are participating in NCAA intercollegiate soccer this fall for their respective institutions.
This is the highest number of Jersey Shore Boca players to ever participate in NCAA intercollegiate soccer during the same season in the club’s 27 year history.
Jersey Shore Boca has been a fixture in the soccer community since 1978 and is one of the most respected soccer clubs on the East Coast.
The Club is celebrating their 27-year anniversary in 2005.
For more information on the Jersey Shore Boca Soccer Club, visit the Club’s official web site at www.jerseyshoreboca.com
news