Christmas, Grady Named All-Region
COMPLETE NSCAA MID-ATLANTIC ALL REGION TEAM
SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Swarthmore College men's soccer midfielder Patrick Christmas (Chapel Hill, NC / East Chapel Hill) and defender Brendan Grady (San Jose, CA / Bellarmine College Prep) have been named to the 2006 NSCAA/adidas NCAA Division III All-Mid-Atlantic Region Team. Christmas was named to the second team while Grady was a third team selection.
Christmas, a junior, captained the Garnet to its third straight season with a double-digit win total and a third consecutive conference playoff berth. He started all 18 matches for Swarthmore, finishing the season tied for second on the team with three assists. For the second consecutive year, Christmas was selected for the All-Tournament team at the Garnet Classic.
A biology major, Christmas was also named to the All-Centennial team for the second time - he was a first team selection in 2006 as well as an honorable mention selection in 2005.
Grady, also a junior captain, was instrumental in directing one of the top defenses in the nation and managed to notch two assists in 2006 (one came on the game-winning goal against Alvernia on Oct. 18). Grady, an English major, has maintained Swarthmore's reputation of having the top defenders in the conference, manning a backline that shut-out eight opponents in 2006 and maintained a 0.76 goals-against average.
Christmas and Grady are the second and third Swarthmore men's soccer players to make All-Region in the past two years - current Garnet assistant coach Alex Elkins '05 was named to the third team in 2005.
After completing the 2006 regular season with an overall record of 12-4-1, Swarthmore secured the No. 3 seed in the Centennial Conference playoffs. The Garnet (12-5-1) were also selected as the top-seed in the 2006 ECAC South Region Men's Soccer Championship.