Former Mallard Named All American

BERLIN- Former Worcester Prep soccer standout Martin Sanchez last week was named to the freshman All-American team after an outstanding first season as a leader on defense at the U.S. Naval Academy.

The accolades keep coming for Sanchez, who made an immediate impact on defense at Navy last fall. Earlier in December, the former Mallard was named to the Division I All-Mid-Atlantic Region team after his remarkable freshman year. Sanchez was named to the All-American team as a freshman last week by CollegeSoccerNews.com, and was the lone representative on the team from the Patriot Conference.

Sanchez started every one of Navy’s 16 games last fall as a freshman and the led a Middies’ defense that ranked number 22 in the nation in Division I in team goals against average. With Sanchez’s leadership, Navy allowed just 13 goals all season in 16 games one year after allowing 28 goals in 19 games. In addition, Navy held 12 of its 16 opponents to one goal or less and recorded seven shutouts. Navy allowed just 11.6 shots per game this year. Earlier in his freshman season, Sanchez was named Patriot League defensive player of the week in just his second week at the academy and was also named to the UMBC/Navy Kick-Off All Tournament team.