Bengals Dominate Fall USCAA Awards
November 7, 2015 • Newport News, VA

Newport News, Virginia—The USCAA released in annual fall sports award winners at each sports National Championship banquets on Wednesday evening. University of Maine at Fort Kent’s Katherine Ferland and Ben Kluvers were awarded National Player of the Year awards for women’s and men’s soccer for the second straight season. Coaches Lucas Levesque and Bill Ashby were also named National Coaches of the Year in women’s and men’s soccer, respectively.

Ferland, a senior currently ranks third in the USCAA in goals with 22 and sixth in assists with 10. She also ranks third in points scored and fourth in shots taken. This is the second straight National Player of the Year for Ferland who was also named a USCAA First Team All-American for a fourth consecutive season. She will go down as one of UMFK and the USCAA’s all-time greatest players as she currently has 113 career goals and 262 points throughout her illustrious career. Her UMFK Bengals will look for their third consecutive USCAA National Championship.

Kluvers, who also was named the USCAA Player of the Year a season ago, was third for the Bengals in goals this season, while moving back and playing a midfield position. He has 13 goals and eight assists this season for a team who went 18-2 during the regular season. Kluvers has 59 goals and 27 assists through three years in a UMFK uniform.

Coach Levesque, who has led his teams to four national championships in the last five seasons was named the USCAA Coach of the Year. His Bengals were ranked #1 for majority of the season with their only two losses coming to NCAA Division II schools, it what was arguably the toughest schedule ever assembled for his team.

Coach Ashby, who is coming off of two consecutive appearances in the National Championship contest, is looking for his Bengals to take the next step, in this his Coach of Year season. Ashby’s only two losses were to the top two teams in the USCAA, West Virginia Tech and Bryant and Stratton. His UMFK squad led the USCAA in goals with 114, assists with 91 and shutouts with seven.

UMFK also had plethora of athletes that were named USCAA All-American for soccer and volleyball. Brianna Krystek, a junior outside hitter for the Volleyball squad, who is making their first trip to a National Tournament was named one of the 10 First-team All Americans. Selina Castro was named to the Honorable Mention team as well. In women’s soccer Katherine Ferland, Marie-Laurence Montagne and Emma Ashby were named first team All Americans and in men’s soccer Ben Kluvers, Butch Forbes, Willy Monthe and Ross Downie.

Most importantly UMFK was recognized for their academic successes off the court. To be recognized as an Academic All-American, the student athlete must maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher. In total UMFK had 20 student-athletes acknowledged on the All-Academic teams. In volleyball, Hope Grace was recognized for her academic success. In men’s Garth Banton, Alex Charette, Philippe Dionne, Davian Glenn, Stefan Petricevic, Jamie Reid, Jesse Shelton, Ricardo Whitely. For women’s soccer: Tiffany Anderson, Emma Ashby, Alexandra Beauchesne, Katherine Ferland, Kendra Freund, Ericka Garino, Jessica Kozachuk, Brianna Mills, Marie-Laurence Montagne, Kayla Richards, Brook Wooldridge