2010 NSCAA SCHOLAR ALL-NORTH/CENTRAL REGION

MINNEAPOLIS -- Augsburg College men's soccer players Van Hong (SR, St. Louis Park, Minn.) and Ahmed Gobana (JR, Burnsville, Minn.) were named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Scholar All-North/Central Region College Division squads, it was announced recently.

It's the second consecutive NSCAA academic honor for Hong, after earning third-team honors last season. Hong is a biology/pre-medicine major with a 3.47 grade-point average. It's the first NSCAA academic honor for Gobana, an accounting/finance major with a 3.31 GPA.

Hong was a solid midfielder throughout his Auggie career. In 21 games (17 starts) in 2010, Hong recorded two goals and an assist for five points, including the lone goal in a 1-0 win over Bethel on Oct. 13. Hong, who played three seasons at Augsburg after his playing his initial college season at Division I Wisconsin-Milwaukee, played in 56 games (45 starts) in his Auggie career, with four goals and four assists for 12 points.

Gobana shined as a starter at forward this season, with three goals and a team-high-tying six assists in 22 games (20 starts), ranking him seventh in the MIAC's overall statistics in that category. In his two seasons as an Auggie (36 games, 30 starts), Gobana has eight goals and six assists for 22 points, including two game-winning goals.

Under seventh-year head coach Greg Holker, Augsburg finished the 2010 season with one of the best records in school history, finishing with a school-record 16 victories (16-5-1) and the MIAC's postseason playoff championship. Augsburg qualified for the NCAA Division III national playoffs for the second time in the last three years, and finished with a double-digit win record for the fourth time in the last five years.

As a team, Augsburg earned NSCAA Team Academic Award honors for the fifth straight year, with a 3.23 team GPA in 2010.