Boston City’s Addai Named to NPSL First Team
- Updated: August 8, 2017
Photo credit: Chris Aduama/aduamaphotography.com
Boston City midfielder Isaac Nana Addai headlined a number of New England stars who appears on the All-NPSL Teams announced on Tuesday. This season, the league recognized a first, second, third, and fourth-team All-NPSL that were voted on by league staff, fans, and media members.
Addai made the All-NPSL first team as a midfielder, becoming the only player to make both the 2016 and 2017 NPSL first-team. Addai is also the third Boston City FC player to make the All-NPSL first-team, joining midfielder Michael Bustamante and defender Gabriel De Souza, who represented the Lions in 2016.
Addai is a 2017 Player of the Year candidate after scoring 12 goals and collecting seven assists in 13 games with Boston City. It was a successful debut season for Addai with the Lions following up on a 2016 season with the Rhode Island Reds in which he scored 18 goals and won the NPSL Golden Ball and NPSL Golden Boot.
Four more New England players were also honored. Boston City FC defender Paulo Henrique was named to the NPSL third-team while Elm City Express defender Arian Lekaj was named to the second-team. Express forwards Tavoy Morgan and Shaquille Saunchez were named to the third and fourth-team, respectively.
Similar to Addai, Henrique made a positive impression in his first season with Boston City, anchoring the defense and earning the captain’s armband on occasion. Henrique’s totaled 792 minutes, good enough for fourth on the team, before a wrist injury cut his season short.
Meanwhile, NPSL finalist Elm City boasted three selections in Lekaj, Morgan, and Saunchez.
Lekaj was the key cog of a backline that only allowed five goals in 12 regular season matches during the club’s debut season. Lekaj’s efforts also helped spear the squad to postseason success as the team collected clean sheets against three of their four postseason foes to date.
Tacking onto his appearance on the Regional first-team, Morgan was named to the NPSL third-team after being one of the most feared players in the second half of the season. Morgan earned his starting role in June and despite the late start to the season, became the one of the most-feared strikers in the division. Morgan scored six goals overall in 2017 for the Express, while also adding a NPSL National Player of the Week honor to his name.
Saunchez, who was also honored as an all-NEC player with Sacred Heart in the fall of 2016, was named to the All-NPSL fourth-team, also bagged six goals for Elm City in the regular-season and has thrived in the clutch by scoring in each of the team’s last three postseason contests.
The entire list of All-NPSL are listed below.
First Team All-NPSL
GK Andrew Weber, FC Arizona
D Jamal Lis-Simmons, Kingston Stockade FC
D Danny Dunleavy, Inter Nashville FC
D Zach Bock, Detroit City FC
D Ricardo Guerra, CD Aguiluchos USA
M Isaac Nana Addai, Boston City FC
M Cyrus Saydee, Detroit City FC
M Liam Collins, Inter Nashville FC
F Jade Johnson, Dakota Fusion FC
F Alessandro Canale, Orange County FC
F Amani Walker, Albion SC PROS
Second Team All-NPSL
GK Steve Skonieczny, Kingston Stockade FC
D Jon Guse, FC Arizona
D Gonnie Ben-Tal, Duluth FC
D Arian Lekaj, Elm City Express
D Tendai Jirira, AFC Ann Arbor
M Connor Gordon, Orange County FC
M Tate Robertson, Dayton Dynamo
M Alex VonHolle, Midland-Odessa FC
F Simon Rawnsley, CD Aguiluchos USA
F Kyle Farrar, Duluth FC
F Shawn Lawson, Detroit City FC
Third Team All-NPSL
GK Fernando Piña, Detroit City FC
D Paulo Henrique, Boston City FC
D Soren Yuhaschek, Chattanooga FC
D Jimmy Fiscus, AFC Ann Arbor
D Joseph Cervantes, Fort Worth Vaqueros
M Michael Bryant, Orange County FC
M Luis Mendoza, TSF FC
M Ezequiel Tejera, Miami United FC
F Victor Cardoso, Miami Fusion FC
F Tavoy Morgan, Elm City Express
F Jonathan Evans, New Orleans Jesters
Fourth Team All-NPSL
GK William Banahene, Rochester Lancers
D Daniel Navarro, Miami United
D Jordan Dunstan, Chattanooga FC
D Jacob Schindler, Rochester Lancers
D James Togbah, FC Wichita
M Martin Browne, Minneapolis City SC
M Fabian Lifka, Brooklyn Italians SC
M Gabriel Viola, Little Rock Rangers
F Shaquille Saunchez, Elm City Express
F Raphael Araujo, New Jersey Copa FC
F Jamie O’Grady, Midland-Odessa FC
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