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BAY CITY, Mich. -- Northwood University senior midfielder Keith Lough (Edinburgh, Scotland) was named the 2011 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) men’s soccer “Offensive Player of the Year,” while Saginaw Valley State University junior defender Zach Myers (Grand Rapids, Mich./Forest Hills Eastern), was named “Defensive Player of the Year” in balloting conducted by the league’s coaches.

Lake Erie College defender/midfielder Willy Cognee (Montreal Quebec, Canada) was honored with the league’s “Freshman of the Year” award, while Cale Wassermann, who guided Saginaw Valley State to a first-place finish in the GLIAC regular-season standings, earned “Coach of the Year” accolades.

Lough led Northwood in goals (eight), shots (959) and points (19) this season.  Among GLIAC players, Lough ranked third overall in goals while standing second in the conference in goals per game (0.62).  The 2008 GLIAC “Freshman of the Year,” Lough has 24 career goals and 12 career assists.  He ranks third in NU history in goals, second in assists and third in points (60).  He is the first Northwood men’s player to earn Offensive Player of the Year honors.

Myers started in all 18 matches this season, his second with the SVSU men’s soccer program. Myers and the rest of the defense have allowed just 17 goals in 18 games, leading the Cardinal men’s soccer program to their first GLIAC Men’s Soccer Championship in school history. Zach has tallied two goals and two assists this season on 18 shots, including the game-winner at Ohio Dominican in a big 4-3 win for the Cardinals.

Cognee came to Lake Erie College and helped lead a complete overhaul of the Storm defense from a season ago.  Though Cognee began the season as just a 16-year old, he played in all 18 matches with 17 starts.  Cognee was one of three new starters on the Lake Erie back line this season, as he manned the left back position.  The squad allowed 27 goals in 18 matches this season after surrendering 49 in the same number of matches a season ago.  Cognee’s efforts were part of a widespread improvement for the Storm as they went 8-8-2 overall and 5-5-2 in GLIAC play after going 1-16-1 (0-12 GLIAC) last season. His only goal of the season was the gamewinner in the Oct. 9th match against Ashland, with 5:59 to play, giving the Storm a 2-1 victory.

Wassermann is in his second season as head coach of the men’s soccer program at Saginaw Valley State University. He is the first full-time head coach at SVSU and finished his debut season with nine wins, four more than the previous year. In 2011, Cale has lead his nationally ranked squad to a 12-win regular season and Saginaw Valley’s first ever GLIAC Men’s Soccer Championship.  Wassermann is a former SVSU standout, having played four years of soccer for the Cardinals and being named First Team All-GLIAC in 2004 and 2005.

Joining Lough and Myers on the All-GLIAC First Team are: junior forward Colby Catlett (Hilliard, Ohio/Cincinnati) of Ohio Dominican University; senior forward Felix Darko (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) of Ohio Dominican; junior forward Randy Danso (Toronto, Canada/North Count Community College) of Lake Erie; sophomore forward Zach Walega (Saline, Mich.) of SVSU, senior midfielder Kenny Hewitt (Brighton, England/Longhill) of Ashland University; senior midfielder Michael O’Neill (Luton, England) of Tiffin University; junior defender Jamie Dollar (Perrysburg, Ohio) of Ashland; junior defender Luke Ruff (Bradford City, England/Delta College) of Northwood; and junior goalkeeper Ricky Carreira of Lake Erie (Toronto, Ont./Dante Alighieri Academy) of Lake Erie.

The complete listing of the 2011 All-GLIAC men’s soccer teams and postseason awards are listed below: