UIC's Bubonja, Loyola's Ferguson named to <I>College Soccer News </I>All-America Teams

Dec. 13, 2007

Complete Release in PDF Format

Indianapolis, Ind. -- While only four teams remain in the hunt for the 2007 NCAA Men's Soccer Championship, the awards have started to come in for the Horizon League. Two of the circuit's standout performers were honored Thursday (Dec. 13) as College Soccer News announced its All-America teams.

University of Illinois at Chicago sophomore goalkeeper Jovan Bubonja was recognized on the Second Team, and Loyola University Chicago sophomore forward Michael Ferguson earned a spot on the Third Team. The Horizon League pair were two of only five underclassmen among the 33 honorees.

Bubonja helped lead the Flames to their first Horizon League title since 2000 and a berth in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship. Bubonja posted three consecutive shutouts in the national tournament---versus 11th-ranked Saint Louis University, 16th-ranked Northwestern University and seventh-ranked Creighton University---as UIC became the first Horizon League team to reach the Elite Eight since 1990. UIC finished the season with a 13-6-6 overall ledger.

Bubonja allowed only one goal during an eight-match run as the Flames captured the Horizon League championship and advanced through three rounds of the national tournament. He set a UIC single-season record with 12 shutouts and currently ranks ninth in the nation with a 0.56 goals-against average.

Ferguson shared the League lead with 15 goals this fall, powering the Ramblers to the Horizon League regular-season championship. He notched a pair of hat tricks in 2007 and earned the circuit's Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year awards, while finishing second in the League with 32 points---one behind Butler University's Frank Patano on the loop charts.

Only two players in the nation---University of Connecticut junior forward O'Brian White and Jacksonville University senior Anton Axelsson---have scored more goals than Ferguson in 2007. White hit the net 23 times and leads the nation with 53 points, while Axelsson finished with 16 goals.

White headlines the First-Team All-America squad, along with Ohio State University senior Xavier Balc and Virginia Tech junior Patrick Nyarko up front. The rest of the First Team includes Boston College junior Alejandro Bedoya, Santa Clara University senior Peter Lowry, Southern Methodist University junior Bruno Guarda and University of Maryland senior Stephen King in the midfield.

The defense features Connecticut senior Julius James along with University of California, Santa Barbara senior Andy Iro and Furman University senior Jon Leathers in front of Wake Forest University senior goalkeeper Brian Edwards.

Three of the 11 First-Teamers lead their teams in the Men's College Cup this weekend, with Ohio State battling the University of Massachusetts in one semifinal while Wake Forest takes on Connecticut in the other match Friday (Dec. 14). The national championship match is set for Sunday (Dec. 16) at Cary, N.C.

Note: The College Soccer News All-America teams can be found in the PDF version of this release.