DONALDSON — Three members of the Ancilla College men’s soccer team have been selected to the NJCAA All-Region 12 teams, the College announ-ced on Tuesday.
Midfielder and sophomore captain Rudy Baldetti was named First Team All-Region 12 while fellow sophomore midfielder Bich-ara Souleimane and freshman striker Andre Hilson were named Second Team All-Region 12.
All three were also selected as First Team All-Conference in the MCCAA for their efforts on the year.
“They deserve to be recognized,” said Ancilla coach James Drzewiecki. “All three are very talented young men and they were a big part of our success this year. What we have to keep in mind is that this is the most we’ve ever had selected to these teams, and that simply wouldn’t happen if all our young men didn’t put in the effort they did. From top to bottom, this was our best team to date, and every member of our team should take pride that we were honored like this.”

Hilson, a Bremen resident, emerged as a major scoring threat in the conference in 2009, finishing second in the MCCAA with nine goals and third in overall scoring with 20 points. A striker known for his exceptional pace, Hilson recorded at least one point in eight of his 15 matches. He recorded the second fastest hat trick in Ancilla history on October 7 against Kellogg, recording all three of his goals by only the 34th minute of the match. Hilson followed that up on October 14 with one goal and one assist in a 2-1 victory over Jackson, securing Ancilla a berth in the Region 12 playoffs for the first time in program history.
Baldetti closes his career as the third leading scorer in Ancilla College history, finishing with eight goals and eight assists. After playing sweeper his freshman year and the first three matches of 2009, the Highland native moved to center midfield and became a major threat to the opposition’s goal. He recorded at least one point in eight of his final 11 regular season matches, setting a record for consecutive matches with an assist (4) and tying the record for consecutive matches with a goal (3).
He recorded two multi-goal efforts on the year – September 16 in a 3-0 win at Kellogg CC and October 22 in a 3-0 home victory over the University of Saint Francis.  He also tied a school record with three assists in a single match on October 7 in a 7-0 victory over Kellogg, a game in which he also scored for the Chargers. He finished tied for third in scoring in the MCCAA this season with 20 points on seven goals and six assists.
Souleimane, a Fort Wayne resident, played behind Baldetti in the holding midfield slot and was often assigned the role of marking the opposition’s best attacker. A native of Chad, Central Africa, Souleimane recorded five goals and one assist on the year and finished with six goals and three assists for his career. He scored the match winner in a 4-2 win at Jackson CC on Sept. 23, a result that was vital to Ancilla qualifying for the postseason. He also recorded the first multi-goal match of his career on October 7 against Kellogg, scoring in the 31st and 38th minutes for the Chargers.
Ancilla College finished 9-6-0 overall and 6-2-0 in the MCCAA, second only to NJCAA No. 5 Schoolcraft College. This year’s squad set a number of team records, including overall winning percentage (.600), conference winning percentage (.750), consecutive wins (5), least goals allowed in a season (26), least shots on goal allowed in a season (106), and least bookings in a season (15).