Lavacca Named SUNYAC Player of the Year

NEW PALTZ, NY — SUNY New Paltz men’s soccer standout Mario Lavacca (Port Washington, NY — Paul D. Schreiber) is the recipient of the 2003 Huntley Parker Award which honors the Player of the Year in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC).

The senior forward finished third in the conference in scoring with a career-best 14 goals and 29 points. He had six two-goal games and accounted for 41 percent of the Hawks’ goal production this fall. For his efforts Lavacca also earned a spot on the all-conference first team for the first time in his career. He had been a second team selection the last three seasons.

Lavacca helped lead the Hawks to their first SUNYAC Tournament appearance since 1987. New Paltz, who went 6-8-2 overall and 4-4-1 in the SUNYAC, finished sixth in the conference and earned the sixth and final seed in the league’s post-season tournament. The Hawks suffered a 3-0 loss to third-seeded Cortland in the opening round of the tournament on Tuesday (Nov. 4) in Cortland, NY.

“I am very proud of Mario,” said SUNY New Paltz Head Men’s Soccer Coach Stuart Robinson. “He became the most respected offensive player in the conference and teams went out of their way to try and shut him down. That’s the ultimate compliment that you can pay to someone.”

Lavacca is the first player in the history of the men’s soccer program at New Paltz to earn the league’s Player of the Year Award. The award is named in honor of Huntley Parker who served as the head men’s soccer coach at Brockport from 1946-1970. During his tenure he directed the Golden Knights to a 161-53-19 record, four NCAA Tournament appearances, and a share of the 1955 National Championship with Penn State.