Reilly garners pair of first-team all-America honors; Tabares collects the first first-team honor of his outstanding career

RINDGE, N.H. (November 30, 2011) -- Two members of the Franklin Pierce University men's soccer team garnered First-Team All-America honors on Wednesday, just one day before the squad takes on Lynn in the 2011 NCAA Division II Final Four in Pensacola, Fla. Seniors Tom Reilly (Wallasey, England) and Diego Tabares (Seekonk, Mass.) earned the recognition, including Reilly, who took home a pair of first-team accolades.

Both players were named to the 2011 Daktronics Men's Soccer All-America First-Team, while Reilly was also named to the 2011 CoSIDA Academic All-America First-Team.

It marked the second-straight year Reilly earned first-team honors from Daktronics. He picked up the award this year after anchoring one of the top defensive units in the nation as Franklin Pierce ranks third nationally in team goals against average (0.49), sixth in shutout percentage (0.59) and eighth in save percentage (0.845). He was named the Northeast-10 Conference Defensive Player of the Year, becoming just the fourth player in program history to earn a major, year-end award from the league in multiple seasons. Reilly has also contributed on the offensive end this season as he has scored three goals.

Reilly was named to the Daktronics All-America First-Team in 2010 after he claimed player-of-the-year awards from the Northeast-10 Conference and Daktronics in its East Region voting. Reilly was a consensus first-team all-American last year as he also gained a spot on the NSCAA team. The NSCAA will announce its All-America team in late-December as Reilly is still eligible to become a consensus first-team all-American in back-to-back years.

Reilly was named to this year's CoSIDA Academic All-America First-Team after he was named the NE-10 Student-Athlete of the Year in men's soccer in 2010. A business major, Reilly sports an impressive 3.50 cumulative grade point average. Voting for the Academic All-America team takes into account a student-athletes success on the field, but most importantly, in the classroom. 

Tabares has had a decorated 2011 season for Franklin Pierce and Wednesday's first-team all-America honor reaffirmed it. Tabares picked up first-team accolades after he was named the NE-10 and Daktronics East Region Player of the Year. He earned third-team all-America honors from Daktronics last season.

Tabares has started all 22 matches this season and currently leads Franklin Pierce in goals (9), points (22) and shots (77), while also ranking among the top-five in the NE-10 in all three categories. He has scored a pair of match-winning goals and ranks among the conference leaders in that category as well. Tabares put together a streak of seven-consecutive matches logging at least one point during the midway portion of the season, including producing multiple points in five of those contests. His strongest outing during that stretch was a two-goal performance in a 3-1 win at Southern Connecticut State on Oct. 5.

Franklin Pierce continues its quest for a national championship on Thursday versus Lynn in the national semifinals. Fans who cannot attend the match can follow it live in a variety of ways, including via video and live stats. Fans wishing to watch the match live can visit http://www.ncaa.com/liveschedule(.) Fans also wishing to stay current on the latest stats of the match can visit http://www.ncaa.com/interactive-bracket/soccer-men/d2(.)

For more information on Franklin Pierce men's soccer, please visit the team's page at athletics.franklinpierce.edu(.) To follow the program even further, please visit Franklin Pierce Athletics on YouTube (www.youtube.com/FranklinPierceSports), Twitter (www.twitter.com/FPUathletics) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceAthletics).