Senior men's soccer player now all-region academically and athletically
WILLIMANTIC,, Conn. - After scoring 16 goals and leading men's soccer to the ECAC
playoffs last year, senior forward Maxim Fantl (West Hartford) was named to the 2008 NSCAA Division III All-New England Region team.
This year, Fantl's excellence in the classroom was rewarded when he was named to the second team of the CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District Team on the strength of having achieved a 3.64 overall grade-point average as a Physical Education major.
The program's third all-time leading scorer, Fantl was one of only two selections from the Little East Conference. A total of 22 student-athletes were named to the team, 11 to the first team and 11 to the second team. Candidates came from Division II and Division III institutions located in New England and New York. Fantl was one of 12 selections from a Division III institution located in New England.
"As far as hard-working, that's pretty much the word which describes Max," noted third-year head coach Greg DeVito, who helped recruit Fantl to Eastern as an assistant under former head coach Frantz Innocent. "Whether it's sports or school, Max works his hardest because his standards are very, very high, and they seem to get higher and higher, as far as what he wants to accomplish. He's just driven to be successful."
The academic honor is one in a series in the career of Fantl, who is the recipient of an E-Club Outstanding Scholar-Athlete Award in both years of eligibility and a member of the Little East Conference Academic Honor Roll in all three years of eligibility.
Athletically, Fantl has led or shared the team lead in scoring in each of his three full seasons, having totaled 48 goals and 116 points in 80 career matches. Heading into the conference playoffs, Fantl leads the conference in points (38), is tied for first in goals (16) and tied for second in assists (6) and game-winning goals (4).
Last year, Fantl was named first-team All-New England Region by the National Soccer Coaches' Association (NSCAA) and Offensive Player-of-the-Year by the Little East Conference after scoring 16 goals and totaling eight assists for a career-high 40 points. He is a three-time all-conference selection and 2006 conference Rookie-of-the-Year.
In addition to his soccer accomplishments, Fantl is a four-year member of the lacrosse program, helping the Warriors to last year's conference championship and a berth in the NCAA tournament.
"Max gives his best to whatever he does," added DeVito. "And it's worth noting that he wasn't always excellent in lacrosse, and wasn't always excellent in the classroom and wasn't always excellent in soccer, but he's made himself into those things. He's gotten vastly better in all three of those areas over four years. He recognizes what it takes. He's always ready for a new challenge, and he surrounds himself with other people who want to work hard."
Fantl becomes the sixth student-athlete in program history to be recognized academically on either a regional or national basis. As a junior and senior in 1986 and 1987 Eastern Hall of Famer Glenn Judge was named to the adidas Academic All-America team. Previous Eastern CoSIDA academic all-region picks (formerly sponsored by Verizon) include seniors Carl Segura in 2005, Ryan Smith in 2002 and Michael Murphy in 2000.
Eastern begins its quest for a second conference playoff championship in three years Wednesday when the second-seeded Warriors host third-seeded defending champion Rhode Island College at 6 p.m. at the Mansfield Outdoor Complex.
