FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Wednesday, November 11, 2015 5 ‘Jackets earn all-conference, Palomino Newcomer of the Year
Five MSUB men’s soccer players earn all-GNAC honors and Ricardo Palomino is named the co-GNAC Newcomer of the Year. PORTLAND, Ore. – Five players from the Montana State University Billings men’s soccer team have been named all-Great Northwest Athletic Conference selections, and sophomore Ricardo Palomino has been picked as the co-Newcomer of the Year announced by the conference office on Wednesday. Palomino was also a first-team all-GNAC selection, after leading the conference in goals scored (16) and total points (34). Junior midfielder Julian Toenges was a second-team all-GNAC pick, and Cameron Lee, Sam Butterworth, and Tom Lohmann were each honorable mention selections. “I’m proud that these five leaders of our program have received recognition from the coaches around our league and from the conference,” commented MSUB head coach Alex Balog. “I hope that this will spur the rest of our players on to get recognized going forward as well.”
A sophomore transfer from Northeastern State University, Palomino started all 17 matches and had six multi-goal performances and two hat tricks among his 16 goals on the year. He led the team in shots (60) and shots on goal (27), while starting 17 matches and totaling 1,338 minutes played. Through Wednesday, Palomino’s goal total was No. 11 in all of the NCAA Division II, and his point total ranked No. 17. His offensive output was the fourth-best in a single season in MSUB history, as only former D2 Player of the Year Sam Charles had seasons with more goals (24, 19, 19). Palomino twice earned the GNAC Player of the Week honor this season, once after becoming the first in MSUB history to score six goals in two games and again after scoring a hat trick in the second half to lift the ‘Jackets to a comefrom-behind victory. With MSUB trailing 2-0 at halftime against Concordia at home on Oct. 17, Palomino scored three times in the final 45 minutes to push his team to the unlikely victory. Sophomore Ricardo Palomino.
“I am very proud of Ricardo for coming in and putting a season together the way that he did,” Balog said. “I think he’s fully deserving of this award, and we have not had a first-team all-conference selection since (assistant coach) Thomas Chameraud in 2012. He worked hard all season and now that is paying off with recognition from our conference.” In his second season with the Yellowjackets, Toenges finished the season No. 2 in the GNAC in assists with 10, which was one shy of MSUB’s single-season record held by Chameraud. The junior also scored three goals, finishing the season with 16 points while starting all 18 matches in the midfield. He provided assists on five of Palomino’s 16 goals on the season. “Julian had a fantastic season and was very consistent for us,” Balog said. “He and Ricardo found each other almost with their eyes closed, and it is my hope that Julian is going to use this season to build upon and try to be even better in 2016.” Each completing stellar four-year careers as starters, Lee and Butterworth were honored for their efforts on MSUB’s defensive unit. Lee ranked second among field players in minutes with 1,537, starting 17 matches as a center back. He played a large part in helping MSUB to a goal differential of plus-11, as the ‘Jackets held opponents to 24 goals on the season. Lee finished his career at No. 4 in the MSUB record books with 70 games played. Butterworth totaled 67 games in his four year career, finishing with three goals and 10 assists including three this season. As a senior, Butterworth started 16 matches and played 1,340 minutes as an outside back on the Yellowjackets’ defense. In goal, junior Tom Lohmann started every match and held a goals-against average of 1.16. He made 55 saves and completed four shutouts in 1,625 minutes, and also had an assist offensively. He now ranks No. 6 in MSUB history in career saves with 128 through two seasons, and is No. 4 in career shutouts with seven. Senior Cameron Lee.
“The fact that our starting left back, center back, and goalkeeper are recognized by the conference exemplifies the defensive cohesiveness that we had throughout the season, especially when those three were on the field together,” Balog said. “I am glad for Cam and Sam to go out with the conference recognizing their performances for MSUB, and I hope that Tom now has a taste of what it’s like to be recognized and will push for more.” Julio Castillo of Northwest Nazarene University was named the GNAC Player of the Year, Cody Lang of Seattle Pacific University was picked as the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, and SPU head coach Mark Collings was the GNAC Coach of the Year. Adam Jones of Simon Fraser University garnered GNAC Freshman of the Year honors, and the Clan’s Pascal Schmidt shared the Newcomer of the Year award with MSUB’s Palomino. Butterworth was a repeat honorable mention all-conference pick from a season ago, and Lee was an honorable mention pick after the 2012 campaign. --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--