MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - Connecticut senior Kwame Watson-Siriboe and Louisville senior Phil Edginton have both been named 2009 BIG EAST Defensive Players of the Year in men's soccer. Watson-Siriboe's teammates, senior Toni Stahl and freshman Carlos Alvarez, have been named BIG EAST Midfielder and Rookie of the Year, respectively. Louisville head coach Ken Lolla and his staff have earned BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year honors. Notre Dame senior Bright Dike was the winner of the BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year award, while USF junior Jeff Attinella grabbed BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year honors. Voting was conducted among the league's 16 head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own players.

The awards were presented Thursday night at the conference's annual men's soccer awards banquet in Morgantown, W.Va., on the eve of the 28th annual BIG EAST Men's Soccer Championship. Competition begins on Nov. 13 with semifinal action at 3 and 5:30 p.m. ET at Dick Dlesk Stadium on the campus of West Virginia University, a first-time host for the men's event. The games will be aired live on CBS College Sports Network (CBS C). The semifinal games will feature St. John's, the No. 2 seed in the Red Division, versus Providence, No. 5 in the Blue Division, in the early game, followed by Louisville, the top seed in the Red Division, against Notre Dame, the No. 2 seed in the Blue Division. The championship game will be held at noon on Nov. 15. The championship game will be televised by several regional cable outlets, CBS C and will be streamed live on www.bigeast.tv for $3.95.

Watson-Siriboe becomes the seventh UConn player to earn BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year honors and the fourth in the last five years. He is also a member of the All-BIG EAST First Team. The senior and the Connecticut backline have allowed just 10 goals through 18 games and registered 12 shutouts. In conference play, the Huskies posted seven shutouts and gave up six goals in 11 games. Watson-Siriboe has scored three goals, including the gamewinner against St. John's, and earned two BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week honors this season (Sept. 28 & Oct. 19).

Edginton is the second Cardinal student-athlete to earn a major award since Louisville joined the league in 2005, and the first to win BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year honors. A unanimous selection to the 2009 All-BIG EAST First Team, Edginton earned third-team honors in 2007. The senior and the Cardinal defense have posted 12 shutouts through 18 games and allowed only 12 goals. In league play, Louisville gave up 10 goals and recorded seven blank sheets. Offensively, Edginton has six points on two goals and two assists. Named the BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week three times (Sept. 21, Oct. 12 & Oct. 26), Edginton was also a two-time weekly honor roll selection (Sept. 14 & Oct. 5).

Stahl is the fourth Husky in the 10 years of the award to earn BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year accolades. The senior started in all 17 games he played, posting three assists. Stahl and the Huskies earned the No. 1 seed out of the BIG EAST Blue Division and hold a record of 11-4-3 overall and 8-2-1 in league play. The defensive midfielder helped UConn record 12 shutouts and allow just 10 goals. He was a unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST First Team for the second straight season, and it marks the third time he is a first-team honoree. Stahl was also the BIG EAST Rookie of the Year in 2006, as well as an All-BIG EAST Third Team selection.

Alvarez is the ninth UConn player to earn BIG EAST Rookie of the Year honors, and the third in the last five years. The forward is second on the team in scoring with 17 points on three goals and 11 assists. His assist total is first in the league in both overall games and also in league play with eight helpers. Through 18 games, Alvarez is tied for ninth in scoring, averaging 0.94 points. The freshman earned BIG EAST Rookie of the Week honors for three straight weeks (Oct. 12, Oct. 19 & Oct. 26) and posted five multiple-point games. Alvarez was named to the All-BIG EAST Third Team and the All-BIG EAST Rookie Team. He is the only freshman to land on this year's first, second or third team.

Lolla and his staff led Louisville to its first regular-season conference title and the No. 1 seed out of the Red Division in the BIG EAST Championship. Louisville holds an overall mark of 13-2-3 and ended BIG EAST regular-season play with an 8-2-1 record. This is the second time in three years Louisville has advanced to the BIG EAST Championship semifinals. The Cardinals set a school record with 13 wins, passing the record of 12 set in 1983 and 2000. Lolla has guided the Cardinals to double-digit wins in three of his four seasons at the helm. The Cardinals have been ranked in the national top 25 all season, and earned the program's highest ranking of No. 5 in the NSCAA/adidas poll in the ninth week of play. This is Louisville's first BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year honor, but Lolla won four MAC Coach of the Year honors at Akron before coming to UofL.

Dike is the second Notre Dame player to earn BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year honors, joining Joseph Lapira (2006). Through 19 games, Dike has registered 10 goals and three assists for 23 points, ranking him first in the BIG EAST in points and tied for first in goals. The senior forward is tied for second in the conference statistics with 14 points on six goals and two assists, and is second in goals. Dike opened the year notching a hat trick in Notre Dame's 5-0 home win against Michigan, went on to post eight multiple-point games and tallied three game-winning goals. This is the second straight year Dike has been named to the All-BIG EAST First Team. This season, he is a unanimous selection.

Attinella earns the first major award for USF men's soccer since the Bulls joined the league in 2005. The junior played every minute of every game for the Bulls, including 11 BIG EAST games. In overall games played, Attinella is tops in the league in saves with 95 and second with an .864 save percentage. Through 19 games, he holds a 0.76 goals against average, allowing only 15 goals and posting seven shutouts. In league play, Attinella held a 0.78 goals against average, allowed nine goals and recorded three shutouts. He was second in saves with 58 and third in save percentage at .866. Attinella has been ranked in the top 10 nationally in save percentage and the top 20 in goals against average most of the season. He is a 2009 All-BIG EAST First Team selection after earning All-BIG EAST Honorable Mention honors a year ago.

Other members of the All-BIG EAST First Team include Connecticut sophomore Tony Cascio, who joins Stahl and Watson-Siriboe. Cascio leads the Huskies in scoring with 19 points on seven goals and five assists. The forward was tops in conference games, netting 17 points through 11 games played.

The 2008 BIG EAST Rookie of the Year, Colin Rolfe is the fourth unanimous selection of the All-BIG EAST First Team. Rolfe is second in scoring in the league, notching 22 points on 10 goals and two assists in 18 games played. The sophomore forward added five goals and two assists for 12 points in conference action.

Notre Dame's Michael Thomas joins teammate Dike as a first-team member. The senior midfielder started all 19 games for the Irish, recording six goals and six assists, good for second on his team. Also earning first-team honors is St. John's junior Sverre Wegge Gundhus. The forward ranks first on his team in assists with seven and points with 17, while also scoring five goals. Wegge Gundhus started all 18 games for the Red Storm.

2009 BIG EAST Men's Soccer Awards
BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Year
Bright Dike, Notre Dame, Sr., F

BIG EAST Co-Defensive Players of the Year
Phil Edginton, Louisville, Sr., D
Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Connecticut, Sr., D

BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year
Toni Stahl, Connecticut, Sr., MF

BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Year
Jeff Attinella, USF, Jr., GK

BIG EAST Rookie of the Year
Carlos Alvarez, Connecticut, Fr., F

BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year
Louisville - head coach Ken Lolla; assistant coaches Brian Maisonneuve, Jeremy Proud, Simon Bird

BIG EAST Fair Play Award
Pittsburgh

All-BIG EAST First Team
Jeff Attinella, USF, Jr., GK
Tony Cascio, Connecticut, So., F
*Bright Dike, Notre Dame, Sr., F
*Phil Edginton, Louisville, Sr., D
*Colin Rolfe, Louisville, So., F
Michael Seamon, Villanova, Sr., MF
*Toni Stahl, Connecticut, Sr., MF
Michael Thomas, Notre Dame, Sr., MF
Steffen Vroom, DePaul, Sr., F
Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Connecticut, Sr., D
Sverre Wegge Gundhus, St. John's, Jr., F
 
All-BIG EAST Second Team
Bernardo Anor, USF, R-So., MF
Ben Clack, St. John's, R-Sr., D
Nelson Becerra, St. John's, Sr., MF
Joel Gustafsson, St. John's, Sr., D
Zach Johnson, West Virginia, R-Jr., GK
Javed Mohammed, USF, Jr., D
Justin Morrow, Notre Dame, Sr., D
Tim Ritter, Providence, Sr., F
Yannick Salmon, Rutgers, Jr., MF
Tadeu Terra, St. John's, R-Jr., MF
Hansen Woodruff, Syracuse, Sr., F

All-BIG EAST Third Team
Carlos Alvarez, Connecticut, Fr., F
Francisco Aristeguieta, USF, Sr., MF
Jeb Brovsky, Notre Dame, Jr., F
Zak Boggs, USF, Sr., MF
Chris Christian, Villanova, Jr., D
Josh Ford, Connecticut, R-Jr., GK
Ibrahim Kamara, Rutgers, So., F
Brayan Martinez, Seton Hall, Jr., MF
Aaron Maund, Notre Dame, So., D
Gift Maworere, West Virginia, Sr., MF
Andrew Welker, Seton Hall, Jr. F

All-BIG EAST Rookie Team
Antonio Aguilar, DePaul, Fr., F 
Carlos Alvarez, Connecticut, Fr., F  
Ian Christianson, Georgetown, Fr, MF
Paolo Del Piccolo, Louisville, Fr., MF 
Stephane DIOP, Connecticut, Fr., MF 
Dillon Powers, Notre Dame, Fr., MF 
Jossimar Sanchez, Connecticut, Fr., MF
Eric Schoenle, West Virginia, Fr., D 
Abel Sebele, West Virginia, Fr., MF  
Hasani Sinclair, USF, Fr., F 
Kyle Soroka, Villanova, Fr., F 

* - unanimous selection