Men's Soccer 11/18/2025 12:00:00 AM

Seven Featured on All-United East Team

Latham, N.Y. – The Penn State Abington men's soccer team had seven players named All-Conference as the United East Conference (UEC) announced this year's Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams and Major Award winners.

Sophomores Frank Monaco and Frankie Rafferty along with freshman Aramis Shire highlighted this year's teams as the trio were named to the All-United East first team. All three are first time All-Conference recipients. In addition, senior Brendan Werner, junior Hugh Nungessor and sophomore Israel Gonzalez were selected to the All-United East second team, while freshman Shawn Dixon was named to the All-United East third team.

Monaco is earning All-United East honors for the first time in his career after a stellar season defensively for the Nittany Lions. He recorded a career-high four assists and scored his first collegiate goal in the team's 1-1 draw against Shenandoah University. Monaco was named the United East Defensive Player of the Week twice during the course of the season. The Abington defense ranked third in the conference in goals allowed in United East play. The Nittany Lions allowed only four goals in eight conference games this season.

Rafferty is also a first time All-United East honoree who had a break-out season for the Nittany Lions. He finished the season with a career-high 13 points while scoring three goals and assisting on seven others; all career-highs. Rafferty tied for the conference lead in assists this season.

Shire had an impressive rookie season starting all 18 games he played in. He finished the year with five goals and two assists for 12 points. Shire's five goals were tied for second most on the team this season. \

Gonzalez is another first-time All-United East selection as he was named to the second team. He started all 20 games and finished the year with one goal and two assists for four points. Gonzalez scored his first collegiate goal in the 1-0 victory at Lancaster Bible College. The win over the Chargers clinched a postseason spot for the Nittany Lions.

Nungessor is earning All-United East second team honors for the third straight time after another stellar campaign. The three-time All-United East honoree finished the season with five goals increasing his career total to 13. Abington was 4-0-1 when Nungessor scored this season.

Werner is earning All-United East honors for the second straight season after being named to the third team in 2024. The program's all-time leader in wins (21) and shutouts (19), Werner finished the season with an 8-4-3 record in net to go along with seven shutouts and 48 saves. His 0.95 goals against average this season is the lowest among conference leaders. Werner wrapped up his career with a 0.99 goals against average, the lowest in program history. In addition, Werner holds the record for most games played in net (50) and is third all-time with 173 saves. He was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Week twice this year.

Dixon was another key component to the Abington defense as he started 15 of his 18 games played in during his rookie season. He scored his first collegiate goal and assist in the team's 4-0 victory against Notre Dame of Maryland University. Dixon's goal against the Gators turned out to be the game-winning score in the game.

Abington (9-6-5, 6-1-1 UEC) qualified for the postseason for the 12^th time and ninth straight since joining NCAA Division III in 2011. The Nittany Lions earned the third seed in the United East Tournament and advanced to the semifinals for the fifth straight season under head coach Pat Morris. In the last three season, Abington is a combined 18-1-3 in the United East regular season.

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Players Mentioned

#10 Israel Gonzalez: M; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#5 Frank Monaco: D; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#2 Hugh Nungessor: F; 6' 0"; Junior

#22 Frankie Rafferty: F; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#1 Brendan Werner: GK; 6' 6"; Senior

#23 Shawn Dixon: D; 5' 7"; Freshman

#33 Aramis Shire: D; 6' 0"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#10 Israel Gonzalez
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: M

#5 Frank Monaco
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: D

#2 Hugh Nungessor
: 6' 0"; Junior
: F

#22 Frankie Rafferty
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: F

#1 Brendan Werner
: 6' 6"; Senior
: GK

#23 Shawn Dixon
: 5' 7"; Freshman
: D

#33 Aramis Shire
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: D