New York, NY – The CUNY Athletic Conference announced its 2008 men’s soccer season award winners and All-Stars on Monday, and four members of the champion Hunter squad gained All-Star status, while head coach Jose Cedeno has been tabbed Coach of the Year by his peers. Junior midfielder Andreas Kalpaxis (Glendale, NY/Townsend Harris) and sophomore forward Danny Vera (Orange County, CA/Mater Dei) were named First Team All-Stars, while junior forward Oscar Dotti (Mamaroneck, NY/Mamaroneck) and junior defender Ryuta Habu (Obihiro, Japan/Memuro) were named to the Second Team.

Kalpaxis, who is regarded as one of the top soccer athletes in the conference, earns his second consecutive First Team All-Star honors. A passionate individual on and off the field, Kalpaxis played solid ball on both ends of the pitch, balanced out the midfield and even managed to score three goals during the season.

Vera returned to the team this season after an ankle injury put his rookie year to a close. In 17 games, he scored three goals including the team’s lone goal in the championship game against York, but more importantly he provided the Hawks with opportunities to score, leading the conference with seven assists.

Dotti had a breakout season for the Hawks, scoring the game winning goals against CCNY in the season finale to clinch the regular season championship and against Brooklyn to send the Hawks to the championship game. Dotti closed out the season with a team high seven goals after having scored just two in his first two seasons with the Hawks.

Habu rejoined the squad after taking a hiatus in 2007 and proved to be an integral part of the Hawk defensive game. Habu was the workhorse on defense, making play after play and shutting down some of the top players in the conference.

Now in his fourth season with the team, Coach Cedeno took a 2-13-1 team that finished last in the CUNYAC in 2007 and was the only conference team to not make the playoffs, and turned them into a championship program. Cedeno, who played soccer for Hunter Hall of Fame head coach Cesar Markovic at St. Peter’s College, carries on the tradition that Coach Markovic started at Hunter in the 1990’s and brought the CUNYAC trophy back, the program’s first since Markovic won back in 1999.