PITMAN, NJ --- Montclair State sophomore forward Janbi Kaghado (Hawthorne, NJ/Hawthorne) and Ramapo College sophomore Mark Buckel (Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock) have been named the New Jersey Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year respectively for the spring 2021 season. Additionally, Rutgers-Camden’s Kaito Kitazawa (Tokyo, Japan/Bonner & Prendergast (PA)) is named Midfielder of the Year; Ramapo’s Joshua Schaffer (Ringwood, NJ/Lakeland) is Goalkeeper of the Year; and William Paterson’s Daniel Ramm (Freehold, NJ/Freehold Twp.) is Rookie of the Year. MSU’s Brogan Quigley (Scotch Plains, NJ/Scotch Plains-Fanwood) earns the David Logar Leadership Award.

In total, 32 student-athletes garnered all-conference recognition in NJAC men’s soccer in the modified season. All selections were determined by a vote of the league’s head coaches.

Kaghado led MSU to the NJAC regular season title and tournament top seed with six points on two goals and two assists. The sophomore transfer led the league in game-winning goals as both of his score were game winners. He attempted 11 shots and put six of those on frame in six matches this season.

Buckel anchored the Ramapo back line to its first-ever conference championship title this spring. He started all seven matches as he helped the Roadrunner defense hold opponents to a 0.86 goals against average which ranked second in the conference. He also recorded one assist.

Kitazawa started all six matches he appeared in for Rutgers-Camden and finished second among all Scarlet Raptors with four points on two goals. The two goals were also tied for third in the NJAC in this shortened season. Kitazawa earned all-conference honors for the second time in his career, as he was Second Team in 2019.

Schaffer is named Goalkeeper of the Year for the second straight year and is a three-time NJAC All-Conference honoree. The three-time NJAC Defensive Player of the Week this season, Schaffer ranked second among conference keepers in both save percentage (.850) and goals against average (.833). He posted two shutouts, including in the championship match to give Ramapo its first-ever NJAC title.

Quigley was the recipient of the conference’s David Logar Leadership Award. The award is presented annually to the player who best displays the attributes of leadership and courage. The junior midfielder started five of the six matches this season, helping lead the Red Hawks to the regular season title. He is also a two-year MSU representative to the conference’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

Ramm was selected as the NJAC Rookie of the Year. The William Paterson forward led the conference in points per game (1.25) and was second in goals per game (0.50). He also tied for the third-most goals (2) and third-most points (5) in the conference as the Pioneers went 2-2.

Ramapo head coach DJ Pinton was tapped as the NJAC Coach of the Year by his peers for the second straight year. In spring 2021, he has guided the Roadrunners to a 5-1-1 overall record and the program’s first-ever NJAC tournament title. Now in his 17th year at the helm of the Ramapo program, Pinton has guided the Roadrunners to an overall record of 165-105-36.

 

NEW JERSEY ATHLETIC CONFERENCE  ALL-CONFERENCE MEN'S SOCCER TEAM SPRING 2021
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  Janbi Kaghado, Montclair State
PAT BALDISERRA MIDFIELDER OF THE YEAR:  Kaito Kitazawa, Rutgers-Camden
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR:  Mark Buckel, Ramapo
GOALKEEPER OF THE YEAR:  Joshua Schaffer, Ramapo
DAVID LOGAR LEADERSHIP AWARD:  Brogan Quigley, Montclair State
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR:   Daniel Ramm, William Paterson
COACH OF THE YEAR:  DJ Pinton, Ramapo
FIRST TEAM
Name	Year	Pos.	School	Hometown/High School
Skyler Diggs^+	SR	F	Rutgers-Camden	Delran, NJ/Delran
Janbi Kaghado	SO	F	Montclair State	Hawthorne, NJ/Hawthorne
Daniel Ramm	FR	F	William Paterson	Freehold, NJ/Freehold Township
Damian Zurawski	FR	F	Ramapo	Wallington, NJ/Wallington
Michael Casper	FR	M	Montclair State	Jackson, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy
Kaito Kitazawa^	JR	M	Rutgers-Camden	Tokyo, Japan/Bonner & Prendergast (PA)
Anthony Pelaez~%	JR	M	Montclair State	Union, NJ/Morris Catholic
Thiago Stallhbaum^	SO	M	Ramapo	Hackensack, NJ/Hackensack
Mark Buckel	SO	D	Ramapo	Glen Rock, NJ/Glen Rock
Owen Kitch	FR	D	Stockton	Medford, NJ/St. Augustine Prep
James McCombs^	JR	D	Stockton	Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial
Daniel Rodriguez	JR	D	Montclair State	Parsippany, NJ/Parsippany
Joshua Schaffer*%	SR	G	Ramapo	Ringwood, NJ/Lakeland
SECOND TEAM
Name	Year	Pos.	School	Hometown/High School
Justin Goldberg	SO	F	Montclair State	Manalapan, NJ/Manalapan
Jonathan Junqueira	SO	F	Ramapo	West Long Branch, NJ/Shore Regional
Brent Llewellyn	JR	F	Montclair State	West Orange, NJ/West Orange
Jacob Von Giebel	JR	F	William Paterson	Lambertville, NJ/South Hunterdon
Chris Fuentes	SR	M	William Paterson	Red Bank, NJ/Red Bank Regional
Massimo Gallorini	FR	M	Ramapo	Paramus, NJ/Paramus
Ervin Gjeli~	SR	M	Stockton	Hasbrouck Heights, NJ/Hasbrouck Heights
Ederson La Torre	FR	M	Ramapo	Kearny, NJ/Harrison
Johnny Gadaleta	SO	D	William Paterson	Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough
Billy Melnick	SO	D	Rutgers-Camden	Conshohocken, PA/William Penn Charter
Raimondo Partito	SO	D	Rutgers-Camden	Philadelphia, PA/YSC Academy
Nelson Segovia	SR	D	NJCU	North Bergen, NJ/North Bergen
Shane Keenan	JR	G	Montclair State	Hazlet, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy
HONORABLE MENTION
Name	Year	Pos.	School	Hometown/High School
Sebi Morrello	SO	M	Stockton	North Caldwell, NJ/West Essex
Parker Solowey	JR	M	Rutgers-Camden	Franklinville, NJ/Delsea Regional
Christian McCartney	JR	D	Rutgers-Camden	Old Bridge, NJ/Old Bridge
Juan Bahena	SO	G	Rutgers-Camden	Bear, DE/William Penn
Dino Gromitsaris~	SR	G	Stockton	Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown
Thomas Hatch~	SO	G	William Paterson	Kinnelon, NJ/Kinnelon
Key: * - First Team All-Conference 2019 ^ - Second Team All-Conference 2019 ~ - Honorable Mention 2019 + - Second Team All-Conference 2018 % - Honorable Mention 2018