Morrison Named CCC Rookie of the Year, Four Others Honored

BOSTON, Mass. – Freshman midfielder James Morrison (New South Wales, Australia) was named the 2015 Commonwealth Coast Conference Rookie of the Year while four of his teammates earned all-conference accolades as the CCC announced its major award winners and all-conference selections.

Student-athletes from all 10 member institutions were honored and voting was conducted among the CCC men's soccer coaches.

In addition to Morrison, sophomore midfielder Emmett Basaca (San Diego, Calif.) was named First Team All-CCC, senior defender Sam Martins (Dartmouth, Mass.) was named second team all-league, and sophomore defenders Kenneth Callahan (Killingworth, Conn.) and Michael Zendan (Charlotte, N.C.) were each honored by the league as third team selections.

While Morrison was named the league's top rookie, Salve Regina junior Nolan Brady and Gordon junior Caleb Cole were named CCC Offensive Players of the Year, while Gordon sophomore Ben Gradert and Endicott sophomore Carter Ocko were honored as CCC Defensive Players of the Year. Salve Regina senior Joseph Pate was named the CCC Senior Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Endicott's Joe Calabrese earned CCC Coach of the Year honors. Eastern Nazarene College was the recipient of the Team Sportsmanship Award.

Morrison has been a high-impact addition to a strong Wentworth squad that claimed the fourth seed in the upcoming CCC Tournament. A two-time CCC Rookie of the week, he has scored three goals and assisted on three others in 15 games and his ability to strike a ball from long range often makes him a scoring threat.

Basaca earns a spot on the first team after playing every minute of every game for the Leopards this season. His on-field intelligence has helped break up many opponent attacks throughout the course of the season and he has also started many of the Leopards' counter attacks. He has started all 34 career games in which he has played.

For the third straight season, Martins earns All-CCC honors from his defender position. This season he has three goals – all on penalty kicks – and three assists for nine points on offense and defensively has anchored a unit which has helped post a goals against average of 0.85 and shut out opponents seven times. For his career, Martins has started 52 of the 57 games in which he has played and has impressive offensive numbers for a defender as he has scored seven goals and assisted on 13 others for 27 career points.

A talented center back, Callahan almost always finds himself in the right spot defensively. He has been a key reason why Wentworth has allowed only 15 goals in 17 games thus far. In his two seasons he has started all 31 games in which he has appeared in

Zendan has had an impressive sophomore season as a solid, two-way defender. Starting all 16 games in which he has played, he has scored three goals and assisted on nine others for 15 points. Both his conference-leading nine assists – many of which have come off throw-ins – and his 15 total points lead the Black & Gold. Through 33 career games (33 starts) he has three goals and 13 assists for 19 points.

At 13-4 overall, Wentworth has posted the most wins since the 2009 season. The Leopards finished CCC play with a 6-3 record and will be the number four seed in the upcoming CCC Tournament where they will play fifth-seeded Salve Regina on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.