Nov. 12, 2008
PHILADELPHIA - La Salle freshman Tom Kalpokas was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team and senior Andrew Bernhard earned league All-Academic honors, as announced by the Atlantic 10 Conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Kalpokas led the Explorers in scoring this year with seven points, including a six point burst against Top 20 opponents. He scored two goals against then-No. 9 Saint Louis and the tying goal in the Explorers' upset of then-No. 20 Charlotte. He also assisted on one of La Salle's two goals in a 2-0 shutout of Soccer Seven rival Drexel.
The Philadelphia native earned Soccer Seven Player of the Week, ECAC Offensive Player of the Week and Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week honors following his three-goal weekend.
"Tommy's a good player, obviously," Coach Pat Farrell said. "Once he made the adjustment from the high school to the college level, he took off. He has the ability to link up, get behind defenders and finish the ball."
After coming off the bench early in the season, the Philadelphia native earned the starting nod in every conference game except for the Senior Day game.
With his selection to the All-Academic team, Bernhard adds another academic accolade to his tab this season. He was recently named to the CoSIDA/ESPN the Magazine All-District First Team and moves on to the national Academic All-America ballot.
The Lancaster, Pa., native started in all 11 games in which he appeared. He tallied 55 saves on the season, including crucial stops to preserve the win over Charlotte. He finishes his La Salle career with 237 saves to put him at No. 6 on the Explorers' top 10 career list.
Says Farrell: "[Bernhard] has the ability to play at a high level and perform at a high level in the classroom. What he has accomplished is the epitome of the student-athlete."
Bernhard will graduate from La Salle with a degree in Computer Science while Kalpokas looks to make a strong impact on the Explorers for the next three years.
