Men's Soccer places Jonas Stigh, Ryszard Gorski and Ricardo Ordain on the All-NEC team; Josh Couvillion tabbed second team

11/11/04 -- Jonas Stigh (Trollhattan, Sweden) was tabbed All-Northeast Conference a second straight season, fellow senior Ryszard Gorski (Aberdeenshire, Scotland) and graduate student Ricardo Ordain (Brooklyn, N.Y.) also were named all-league, and senior Josh Couvillion (New Orleans, La.) was tabbed second team All-NEC.

Stigh has been one of the main reasons LIU’s defense is among the nation’s elite, helping it this year lead the league with a 0.94 goals-against average including seven shutouts. A physical presence at 6-3, the three-year starter on the backline was named second team Academic All-District I by the College Sports Information Directors of America this season and second team All-NEC in 2001.

Gorski has been a mainstay in goal the last three seasons, consistently coming up with huge saves and playing a major role with his strong leadership skills. The 6-4 is tied for the league lead with six shutouts, is second with a 0.94 goals-against average and has notched 21 career shutouts.

This is Ordain’s second NEC accolade after being named second team all-league in 2001 with St. Francis (NY). The 6-0 forward, who was a tremendous addition this season with his speed and field awareness, is tied for seventh in the NEC with four assists and second on the squad with 12 points.

Couvillion was named second team all-league a second straight season thanks to his aggressive and passionate play on defense. The 5-8 standout also shares in the praise bestowed on the Blackbirds’ defense, helping it notch 24 shutouts over the last four seasons.

This marks the second straight season LIU has had three players named first team All-NEC after totaling six combined honorees over the five previous campaigns. Forward Oskar Tilly and David Schofield were tabbed All-NEC a season ago.

The honors were presented Thursday at the awards banquet in Teaneck, N.J. prior to the NEC Tournament. The Blackbirds (8-6-3, 6-2-1 NEC) are the No. 3 seed and will face second-seeded St. Francis (PA) on Friday at 1:30 pm in the semifinals on the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University. The host and top seed battles No. 4 seed Quinnipiac in the first semifinal at 11:00 am and the winners play Sunday at 12:00 pm for the right to go to the NCAA Tournament.