Bowling Green State University Athletics
Five Falcons Earn Academic All-MAC Honors
December 06, 2016 | Men's Soccer
Auden, Flynn, Giannini, Pugliese and Sullivan all are named to the team
A total of five Bowling Green State University men's soccer student-athletes have been named to the Academic All-Mid-American Conference Team, the league office has announced. Seniors Max Auden, Pat Flynn and Joe Sullivan and sophomores Vincent Giannini and Peter Pugliese all were named to the team, which was revealed on Tuesday morning (Dec. 6).
Click Here for the MAC Office's release announcing the Academic All-MAC Team
Auden, a fifth-year senior, earns academic all-conference honors for the fourth consecutive year. He earned Academic All-MAC honorable mention in 2013, the last year before the format was changed.
Flynn and Sullivan each earn Academic All-MAC honors for the third-straight season, while Giannini and Pugliese have been named to the team for the first time in their respective Falcon careers.
The three seniors named to the team all are natives of Naperville, Ill., while Giannini hails from Sydney, Australia, and Pugliese is from Cambridge, Ontario.
Auden, voted a captain by his teammates for the second year in a row, missed the first seven matches of the season due to an injury suffered in the spring. But, he returned to practice in mid-September and played in each of the team's last 12 games, starting three. Auden had three points on the season, on a goal and an assist. The goal came against Ohio State, in just his second game back after the injury, and it proved to be the game-winning marker in BG's 2-0 victory. He had the primary assist on another game winner, in the Falcons' 1-0 win at Northern Illinois, and ended his career with 25 points on eight goals and nine assists. Four of those eight goals were game-winning goals.
Auden is currently in graduate school at BGSU, in the Master's of Accountancy program. He graduated with a dual major in accounting and finance, and had a cumulative grade-point average of 3.619 in his undergraduate career.
Flynn, one of the most dangerous strikers in the MAC during his three years with the Falcons, was an all-league first-team selection in 2016, and also was named to the MAC's All-Tournament Team. He led the Brown and Orange in scoring in each of his three seasons. Flynn started all 19 matches this fall, and had 14 points on five goals and four assists. Flynn's goal total included the game-winning tally in BG's victory over then nationally-ranked West Virginia in the MAC opener. He had a two-goal game vs. Appalachian State, and also scored in a win over Wright State and a tie vs. Akron. In just three years at BGSU, he moved into the school's career top 10 in several categories. Flynn finished his career ranked seventh in school history in goals, with 28, and he is tied for eighth in career points, with 68. He ranks fourth in BG history with nine career game-winning goals.
In the classroom, Flynn has a 3.875 cumulative GPA as an accounting major. In November, he was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team, becoming the first three-time Academic All-American in program history. Flynn also is the first player in program history to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America First-Team honors twice, being named to the first team in 2015 as well after earning Second-Team honors in 2014.
Giannini played in 11 matches, making six starts for the Falcons in his sophomore season. He had four points on a goal and two assists. Giannini scored BGSU's first goal of the season, and it proved to be the game winner as the Falcons topped IUPUI in the season opener. He also had a two-assist game in BG's win over Appalachian State.
A business administration major at BGSU, Giannini currently has a cumulative GPA of 3.814.
Pugliese played in 16 of BGSU's 19 matches this fall, making nine starts. He had three points on the season, all on assists, and tied for fourth on the team in assists. He had an assist in BGSU's wins over IUPUI and App State at Cochrane Stadium, and also assisted on Sullivan's goal at Western Illinois.
Pugliese, a business administration major at the University, currently has a 3.743 cumulative GPA.
Sullivan, like Auden a team captain in 2016, started all 19 games and was named to the All-MAC Second Team. Sullivan had 11 points to finish third on the team in scoring. His four goals included one game-winning marker, and he also had three assists. Sullivan's winning goal came against Marshall, and he also found the back of the net against IUPUI, Western Illinois and Fort Wayne. Two of his assists came on what proved to be the winning goal, as the Brown and Orange topped Ohio State and Northern Kentucky. Sullivan played in 77 career games, starting 64, and had 50 points on 17 goals and 16 assists at BGSU.
In the classroom, Sullivan has a 3.931 cumulative GPA as a finance major. Like Flynn, he was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team, making BGSU the only school in the country with two first-team selections. Sullivan became just the third player in program history to earn Academic All-America honors twice, having been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team in 2015. He, like Flynn, also was named to the CoSIDA All-District Team for the third consecutive year.
The Academic All-MAC honor is bestowed upon all student-athletes who maintain a 3.20 GPA and participate in at least 50 percent of the team's contests. First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award.
From the Academic All-MAC Teams, the conference's faculty athletic representatives select the 'best of the best' who will earn the Distinguished Scholar Athlete Award, which will be announced in the coming months. The number of Distinguished Scholar Athletes for each sport is equivalent to the number of first-team selections of 33% of nominees, whichever is greater.
BGSU finished with an overall record of 9-6-4 in 2016, and the Falcons went 2-0-3 in MAC play. BG – picked to finish fifth in the six-team league in the preseason coaches' poll – placed second in the final regular-season standings, for the program's best finish since 2002. The Falcons went undefeated in the MAC for the first time in 20 years, and BGSU also was unbeaten at home for the first time in two decades.
Head coach Eric Nichols and his staff had just four seniors on the 25-man roster in 2016.
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Click Here for the MAC Office's release announcing the Academic All-MAC Team
Auden, a fifth-year senior, earns academic all-conference honors for the fourth consecutive year. He earned Academic All-MAC honorable mention in 2013, the last year before the format was changed.
Flynn and Sullivan each earn Academic All-MAC honors for the third-straight season, while Giannini and Pugliese have been named to the team for the first time in their respective Falcon careers.
The three seniors named to the team all are natives of Naperville, Ill., while Giannini hails from Sydney, Australia, and Pugliese is from Cambridge, Ontario.
Auden, voted a captain by his teammates for the second year in a row, missed the first seven matches of the season due to an injury suffered in the spring. But, he returned to practice in mid-September and played in each of the team's last 12 games, starting three. Auden had three points on the season, on a goal and an assist. The goal came against Ohio State, in just his second game back after the injury, and it proved to be the game-winning marker in BG's 2-0 victory. He had the primary assist on another game winner, in the Falcons' 1-0 win at Northern Illinois, and ended his career with 25 points on eight goals and nine assists. Four of those eight goals were game-winning goals.
Auden is currently in graduate school at BGSU, in the Master's of Accountancy program. He graduated with a dual major in accounting and finance, and had a cumulative grade-point average of 3.619 in his undergraduate career.
Flynn, one of the most dangerous strikers in the MAC during his three years with the Falcons, was an all-league first-team selection in 2016, and also was named to the MAC's All-Tournament Team. He led the Brown and Orange in scoring in each of his three seasons. Flynn started all 19 matches this fall, and had 14 points on five goals and four assists. Flynn's goal total included the game-winning tally in BG's victory over then nationally-ranked West Virginia in the MAC opener. He had a two-goal game vs. Appalachian State, and also scored in a win over Wright State and a tie vs. Akron. In just three years at BGSU, he moved into the school's career top 10 in several categories. Flynn finished his career ranked seventh in school history in goals, with 28, and he is tied for eighth in career points, with 68. He ranks fourth in BG history with nine career game-winning goals.
In the classroom, Flynn has a 3.875 cumulative GPA as an accounting major. In November, he was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team, becoming the first three-time Academic All-American in program history. Flynn also is the first player in program history to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America First-Team honors twice, being named to the first team in 2015 as well after earning Second-Team honors in 2014.
Giannini played in 11 matches, making six starts for the Falcons in his sophomore season. He had four points on a goal and two assists. Giannini scored BGSU's first goal of the season, and it proved to be the game winner as the Falcons topped IUPUI in the season opener. He also had a two-assist game in BG's win over Appalachian State.
A business administration major at BGSU, Giannini currently has a cumulative GPA of 3.814.
Pugliese played in 16 of BGSU's 19 matches this fall, making nine starts. He had three points on the season, all on assists, and tied for fourth on the team in assists. He had an assist in BGSU's wins over IUPUI and App State at Cochrane Stadium, and also assisted on Sullivan's goal at Western Illinois.
Pugliese, a business administration major at the University, currently has a 3.743 cumulative GPA.
Sullivan, like Auden a team captain in 2016, started all 19 games and was named to the All-MAC Second Team. Sullivan had 11 points to finish third on the team in scoring. His four goals included one game-winning marker, and he also had three assists. Sullivan's winning goal came against Marshall, and he also found the back of the net against IUPUI, Western Illinois and Fort Wayne. Two of his assists came on what proved to be the winning goal, as the Brown and Orange topped Ohio State and Northern Kentucky. Sullivan played in 77 career games, starting 64, and had 50 points on 17 goals and 16 assists at BGSU.
In the classroom, Sullivan has a 3.931 cumulative GPA as a finance major. Like Flynn, he was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America First Team, making BGSU the only school in the country with two first-team selections. Sullivan became just the third player in program history to earn Academic All-America honors twice, having been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team in 2015. He, like Flynn, also was named to the CoSIDA All-District Team for the third consecutive year.
The Academic All-MAC honor is bestowed upon all student-athletes who maintain a 3.20 GPA and participate in at least 50 percent of the team's contests. First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award.
From the Academic All-MAC Teams, the conference's faculty athletic representatives select the 'best of the best' who will earn the Distinguished Scholar Athlete Award, which will be announced in the coming months. The number of Distinguished Scholar Athletes for each sport is equivalent to the number of first-team selections of 33% of nominees, whichever is greater.
BGSU finished with an overall record of 9-6-4 in 2016, and the Falcons went 2-0-3 in MAC play. BG – picked to finish fifth in the six-team league in the preseason coaches' poll – placed second in the final regular-season standings, for the program's best finish since 2002. The Falcons went undefeated in the MAC for the first time in 20 years, and BGSU also was unbeaten at home for the first time in two decades.
Head coach Eric Nichols and his staff had just four seniors on the 25-man roster in 2016.
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Players Mentioned
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