Weekly Athletic Update (12/2-12/8)

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Ben Rickson became the first Engineer Men's Soccer player in 27 years to be named an All-America when he was recognized as a Division III first team back by the United Soccer Coaches as announced Thursday evening at the championship banquet preceding the national semifinals in Greensboro, NC. The senior becomes just the 11th player in program history to be selected an All-America and first since Ryan Burke was tabbed the second team in 1992. Rickson joins Amaro Goncalves (1984) as the only two players in Crimson and Gray history to earn first team accolades.

Senior goalkeeper Mandy St. Germain has been selected to the Division III Women's Soccer Academic All-America first team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The senior joins Lynn Woroby '08, Hailey Taylor '12 and Emily Doherty '16 as the fourth from women's soccer to become an Academic All-America and the only one to earn first team accolades.

The duo of Shannon Hynes and Abby O'Sullivan were selected All-New England East this week by the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA). It marked the first time the Engineers had a pair of players named to the squads since Hall of Famers Nicole Maglione '09 and Kelly Johnson '10 accomplished the feat in 2006. Hynes was named to the first team after earning second team accolades a season ago. The back joins Johnson (2006 and 2009) as the only player to earn all-region honors twice since 2000 while O'Sullivan earned a second team spot at forward.

Ben Rickson garnered first team All-New England accolades from the United Soccer Coaches while classmates Mark Calnan and Jackson Conroy took home second team honors as the Engineers registered three All-New England selections for the first time under seventh-year head coach Brian Kelley. Rickson was the NEWMAC's Defensive Athlete of the year as the center back backboned a defense that leads all of NCAA Division III - 412 schools - in Goals Against Average (0.452).

Kristen McCrea was selected as a United Soccer Coaches All-New England second team honoree. It is the fourth consecutive year that McCrea has earned All-New England recognition, as the midfielder was a first team pick in 2016 and 2018 and a second team award recipient in 2017 and 2019. McCrea capped an outstanding career by leading the team with 29 points and sharing team-high honors with 13 goals despite missing the final three games due to injury.

Clayton Besch secured an event win for Men's Swimming & Diving's in the Gompei Invitational on Saturday, triumphing in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 22.81 seconds. Katherine Pawlak accounted for Women’s Swimming and Diving top result of the meet, touching the wall fourth in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 26.52 seconds. Meanwhile, Molly Sykes claimed fifth place in the 400 individual medley, clocking in at 4:41.10. Team scoring in the meet is a combination of points earned by each men's and women's programs. The Engineers combined to amassed 4,069 points to edge Division II Bentley (4,028.50 points) for third place. Division I Bryant took home the team crown with 6,640 points while Rowan (4,765) placed second and Roger Williams (2,890.50) rounded out the top five in the 13-team meet.

Men's Basketball team received a game-high 21 points from Garrett Stephenson and never trailed in the game as the Engineers knocked off undefeated Tufts 72-62 in non-conference action on Tuesday evening. The Engineers, 22nd in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25, had won seven straight before falling to Albertus Magnus on Saturday. Stephenson paced the Engineers against Tufts with 21 points on 8-of-11 from the floor to go along with six rebounds and two assists. Colin McNamara chipped in with 13 points and eight boards, all on the defensive glass, while Reid Walker added 10 points.

Tyler Riggs earned bronze at 197 pounds as the freshman led Wrestling to a fourth place finish overall at the 15-team RIT Invitational. The Engineers saw seven wrestlers reach quarterfinals and five advance to the semifinals. Chris Cook (133), and tri-captains Chase Lind (157), Tyler Marsh (165) and Brandan Marion (174) all finished fourth while Nikolaos Diakides (285) placed fifth.

Spencer Vinson had a team-high 18 points and five rebounds, but Women’s Basketball team lost to visiting Tufts, the No. 2 team in the country 56-44 Saturday afternoon at Harrington Auditorium. WPI is now 5-3 overall while the Jumbos are a perfect 7-0 on the season and figure to ascend to the top of D3hoops.com Top 25 following Amherst's loss earlier this week. Vinson was 8-of-14 from the floor, and added three blocks and an assist in 29 minutes of action. She scored six of her points in the first half, which closed with WPI trailing by three, 21-18.

All teams are off this week due to final exams. Women’s Basketball has a busy end of December with a 3pm road game at Bates on Tuesday, December 17th and a two-game trip to California to face Occidental on Sunday, December 29th and Cal Tech on Monday, December 30th. Both basketball teams kick off 2020 with 1pm road games on Saturday, January 4th with Men’s Basketball taking on Framingham State and Women’s Basketball squaring off with Westfield State.

If you can’t wait for Mondays to get your info on WPI Athletics, please check us out online, follow us on Twitter at @WPIAthletics and Instagram, like us on Facebook or visit our YouTube playlist.

This is the final Weekly Update before the holiday season. From everyone with WPI Athletics, please have a safe and happy holidays! - Thanks and see you at the game - Rusty and Mark

Men’s Student-Athlete of the Week

Clayton Besch -Swimming and Diving - Junior - West Sand Lake, NY

Clayton Besch of the swimming and diving team has been tabbed as the WPI Male Student-Athlete of the Week for the week ending Sunday, December 8th. Besch posted the Engineers lone victory in the Gompei Invitational, touching the first in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 22.81 seconds. The junior also was WPI’s top finisher in the 100-yard butterfly, touching the wall ninth (51.44) and play an important role in several relays.

Women’s Student-Athlete of the Week

Katherine Pawlak - Swimming and Diving - Sophomore- Westford, MA

Katherine Pawlak from the swimming and diving team has been honored as the WPI Female Student-Athlete of the Week for the week ending Sunday, December 8th. Pawlak accounted for WPI’s top finish in the Gompei Invitational, touching the wall fourth in the 50-yard butterfly with a time of 26.52 seconds. The sophomore was also 12th in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 53.92 and was a key cog in multiple relays.

Men’s Basketball (8-2 overall, 0-0 NEWMAC)

Schedule and Results | Roster | Stats | News

12/2 - Wisniewski Secures NEWMAC Men's Basketball Defensive Player of the Week Honor

12/3 - Garrett Stephenson Tabbed WACBA Men's Basketball Player of the Week

12/3 - Stephenson Pours in 21 as No. 22 Men's Hoops Knocks Tufts from the Ranks of the Unbeaten

12/7 - No. 22 Men's Basketball Upended on the Road by 8-1 Albertus Magnus