Hempstead, N.Y. – Hofstra senior Chris Griebsch and junior Maid Memic were selected to the All-Colonial Athletic Association preseason team, the league announced today.
Drexel senior midfielder Nathan Page was tabbed as the CAA Preseason Player of the Year by a voting of the conference's head coaches. Hofstra was one of just four teams to have two players make the squad, joining James Madison, Drexel and Northeastern. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players.
Two of the three forward spots went to Hofstra players with James Madison's Josh Grant the other honoree. Griebsch contributed four goals and a league-high 11 assists for the Pride last year and was named to the All-CAA second team. The Dessau-Rosslau, Germany native posted four more assists than the next-closest player in the league and lead the CAA with a .58 assist-per-game average. He is coming off back-to-back double digit assist campaigns.
Memic was Hofstra's leading goal scorer, finishing in the league's top-5 in that category with nine scoring strikes. He tallied 22 points en route to second-team All-CAA honors as a sophomore. The Kozarac, Bosnia native was a third team NSCAA All-South Atlantic Region pick and registered four game-winning goals, including the decisive scores against Lehigh, St. Francis, Jacksonville and Towson.
The midfield selections were UNCW's Jamie Dell, Marcus Luster (William & Mary), Dante Marini, Page and Drexel's Ken Tribbett. Page led the Dragons with nine goals and 19 points. The senior scored a goal in six straight conference games from Oct. 6-24.
Four defenders were chosen, including Simon Cox, who won the CAA's Co-Defensive Player of the Year along with Hofstra's Shaun Foster in 2012. Hofstra fell to Northeastern in double overtime of the CAA championship game. Rounding out the back line on the preseason team was James Madison's Bjarki Aðalsteinsson, Drexel's Tal Bublil and Delaware's Tobias Muller.
Entering its first season of CAA play, the College of Charleston saw a player earn a spot on the list in senior goalkeeper Kees Heemskerk, who made the All-Southern Conference second team last season with a 1.29 goals against average and 74 saves.
The Pride will open the regular season on Sept. 1 versus Colgate at 3:30 p.m. at Hofstra Soccer Stadium.
