By Andrew Parente

The men’s soccer team concluded the 2007 season with its second consecutive trip to the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) playoffs.

The last two years have almost been identical for the Huskies: a strong finish to the season, followed by a short appearance in the playoffs. Last year, the team was knocked out in the quarterfinal round by George Mason.

After being eliminated by Viriginia Commonwealth 3-1 Tuesday, four players received All-CAA honors Thursday.

Senior forward Greg Kilkenny, sophomore midfielders Lars Okland and Alexander Volk and freshman defender Matt Sanford received awards for their outstanding play this season.

Kilkenny and Okland were named to the All-CAA first team, Volk was named to the All-CAA third team and Sanford made the All-Rookie team.

Kilkenny, a team captain this year, finished up his Northeastern career in an impressive fashion. He scored seven goals and recorded nine assists, totaling 23 points for the season.

Those stats were good enough to put the Ireland native in second place in assists and points in the conference. He is also now fifth in the Northeastern record books in all three categories for his career.

Okland, a Norway native, was a staple on the Husky defense that shined all season. In its last nine regular season games, Northeastern posed a 6-2-1 record. In those games, the Huskies only allowed seven total goals. During that streak, the Huskies also recorded three straight shutouts.

Also on defense was freshman Matt Sanford. A native of New Jersey, Sanford started all 19 games this year for the Huskies. Sanford was also in the middle of the play, stopping opponents from breaking through and creating chances to score.

He played very calm under pressure and performed well in one-on-one situations. Both Sanford and Okland are sure to be valuable assets to the Husky defense again next season.

Volk, from Germany, suffered injuries early in the year. Along with Kilkenny, Volk was named to the All-CAA preseason team. He only tallied one goal and one assist this year for three points, however his presence on the field helped to open up scoring opportunities for other players. Volk will return for his junior season and will look to add more offense for Northeastern.

Next year, Northeastern returns eight of 11 starters as they look to advance to the playoffs for a third straight year.