Lika Nominated for NSCAA All-American Scholar Athlete

PAXTON, Mass. – Anna Maria College junior midfielder Enco Lika (Worcester, Mass.) has been nominated for the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-American Scholar-Athlete Award.

"We are extremely proud of all that Enco has achieved both on the field and in the classroom here at Anna Maria College," said AMCATS Head Coach Zach Rocha. "When we speak to our players as being 'student-athletes,' we remind them that word 'student' comes before the word 'athlete.' As talented as he is on the field, Enco is an example of understanding what is most important about his experience here at Anna Maria College as a men's soccer player."

To qualify for the award, Lika, a Sport Management major, needed to have at least a 3.30 cumulative grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) throughout his career and be a junior or above in academic standing. He also needed to start more than 50 percent of all games and be a significant contributor to the team.

Lika has appeared in 57 games (50 starts) in his three years at Anna Maria and has scored eight goals and eight assists. As a freshman, he was a major contributor to the AMCATS' most successful season in school history, a season which saw the program make its firs post-season appearance ever with a berth in the ECAC tournament. As a sophomore, Lika was named a TCCC All-Conference Honorable Mention. This past season, as a junior, he appeared in 19 games (17 starts) and tallied four goals and an assist.

He capped off the AMCATS' regular season with the game-winning goal in Anna Maria's 1-0 double-overtime victory at home over Regis on October 28.

Based in Kansas City, Kan., the NSCAA is the largest soccer coaches' organization in the world. Since its founding in 1941, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America has grown to include more than 30,000 members who coach both genders at all levels of the sport. In addition to a national rankings program for colleges and high schools, NSCAA offers an extensive recognition program that presents nearly 10,000 individual awards every year.