News Release
WilmU Wildcat Lorne Bickley Named 2019 Ron Lenz National Player of the Year
Three Wildcats also named to 2019 D2CCA All-American Teams
POMONA, Calif. – A trio of WilmU Wildcats have been named to the 2019 Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) Men's Soccer All-America Team, headlined by junior forward Lorne Bickley being named the 2019 Ron Lenz National Player of the Year.
Sports Information Directors from NCAA Division II schools and conferences sponsoring men's soccer selected the D2CCA All-America Team. The process begins at the regional level with all First Team All-Region picks advancing to the national ballot. This marks the 14th year that teams have been selected since the All-America program began in 2006.
In addition to being named the Ron Lenz National Player of the Year, Bickley (St. Helier, Jersey) was voted First Team All-American with teammate Joe Bell (Epsom, England). Junior classmate Shawn Genus (St. Elizabeth, Jamaica) was voted Second Team All-American for his work this season as well.
Bickley leads the nation with 26 goals and 54 points as the Wildcats posted a 17-3-1 record and qualified for the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championship Tournament in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history before falling in the Second Round as the No. 5 seed in the Super Region 1 bracket.
Named as Player of the Year in both the East Region and the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC), Bickley also leads all of Division II in goals per match (1.24) and points per match (2.57). Over the course of the season, he converted a goal in 14 of the 21 games he appeared in, posting three hat tricks, a stretch of eight consecutive games in which he scored a goal, and a season-high four goals in an 8-1 victory over Felician back on Sept. 21. A three-time All-Region selection, this is the first D2CCA All-America award for Bickley. He also scored three goals and had an assist in the first game of the year after missing all of 2018 with an injury.
Bickley becomes the second men's soccer student-athlete from the East Region to win the Ron Lenz National Player of the Year honor, an award given out to the top men's soccer student-athlete in the nation every year since 2006. The first student-athlete in the East Region to win the nation's Player of the Year honor was Eivind Austboe of LIU Post (NY) in 2013.
The Division II Conference Commissioners Association (CCA) encourages and promotes Division II athletics and high standards of sportsmanship as important elements of higher education. The CCA is a key communications link among the conferences as they discuss views, policies and regulations that impact Division II intercollegiate athletics and works closely with the NCAA as a communications channel to NCAA Division II member colleges and universities.
Click here to see the full listing of the 2019 Division II Conference Commissioners Association Men’s Soccer All-America Team on the WilmU Athletics website.