Attinella Named NSCAA First Team All-America
December 11, 2009 | Men's Soccer, Student Zone
TAMPA - University of South Florida men's soccer goalkeeper Jeff Attinella was named to the 2009 NSCAA/Performance Subaru Men's Division I All-America First Team by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Attinella is one of only three players from the BIG EAST Conference to be named to one of the three all-america teams.
"Jeff is certainly a very worthy recipient of this honor," said USF head coach George Kiefer. "I have said it since the very beginning of the year; Jeff is the best goalkeeper in the nation and now it is obvious that a lot of other coaches out there feel the same way. I couldn't be happier for him."
"I am extremely excited to have received this honor," said Attinella. "When you grow up and then become a college player, you dream about receiving awards like this. I am just very grateful that I, and our team, could have the kind of year that put me in the position to be named all-american."
On the year Attinella earned a 14-4-3 record while recording seven shutouts and letting up only 18 goals in 1,964 minutes of play. Attinella, who was a critical piece of the puzzle for the Bulls this season, posted a 0.83 goals against average and a .849 save percentage while also posting seven shutouts.
During the 2009 season, Attinella was named BIG EAST Goalkeeper of the Week for the week's ending Sept. 13, Oct. 4 and Oct. 25. He was also named BIG EAST Conference Goalkeeper of the Year and first team All-BIG EAST.
In addition, Attinella was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Team of the Week for the week ending Sept. 13 and he was named to the third team TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Season.
"I am extremely proud of Jeff," said USF goalkeeper coach Bryheem Hancock. "Obviously he worked extremely hard over the summer leading into the season. Our expectations, and one of the goals that we had for him individually, was for him to be an all-american. Any time that you put in the kind of work that he did over the summer and in the preseason, and now to see the rewards from all that hard work, it's just great. It, however, isn't only the work that he put in on the field, but it shows the type of person he is. He's a great kid, with good character, is a very good student and a great leader. Those are all the qualities that you would want if you were to select an all-american."
USF advanced to the second round of the 2009 BIG EAST Championships before falling to Notre Dame in penalty kicks. The Bulls also advanced to the second round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 1 ranked and top-seeded Akron. USF finished the season with a 14-4-3 overall record and a 6-3-2 record in the BIG EAST Conference.
