Men's Soccer | 11/9/2021 9:56:00 AM
TROY, N.Y. – The Liberty League has announced its year-end award winners from men's soccer and
Trevor Bisson was named Defensive Player of the Year, while
Adam Clinton and his staff collected Coaching Staff of the Year honors for the second consecutive season.
A senior centerback and captain from Baton Rouge, La., Bisson becomes the first player in league history to earn both Rookie of the Year, which he claimed in 2017, and Defensive Player of the Year. Playing all 18 games for the Engineers this season, he led a back line that surrendered just 0.83 goals per game on just 3.94 shots on goal per contest. RPI kept nine clean sheets this year, including six in Liberty League play.
Offensively, Bisson scored one goal on 26 shots, including nine on target. Averaging 89.8 minutes per match, he played in every minute of RPI's nine Liberty League contests, collecting 10 shots (3 on target). He is the third Defensive Player of the Year in school history, joining Alex Penny '11 and Rob Dewald '15, who earned the award in 2010 and 2014, respectively.
A United Soccer Coaches National All-America Third Team selection in 2019, Bisson concludes his Engineers career with 76 games played – all starts. He scored 17 goals and had one assist for 35 points. The former Episcopal High School standout totaled 91 shots (30 on goal), with eight game-winning tallies.
In his 19th season at the helm, Clinton led the Engineers to the top spot in the Liberty League standings for the second straight campaign (the league did not compete in 2020 due to COVID-19). His teams have now won double-digit games in a season 10 times and have at least five conference victories nine times, including a school-record seven league wins this season.
Clinton now owns a 179-102-49 record at Rensselaer, including 27-8-5 mark over the last two season. The Engineers saw their 22-game home unbeaten streak come to an end earlier this season, which was the longest in program history. This is his fourth Coaching Staff of the Year honor all-time, also winning in 2008, 2009 and 2019.
The Engineers went 11-5-2 this season, including a 7-2-0 mark in Liberty League play. RPI fell to St. Lawrence in the conference semifinals.
