The America East handed out its men’s soccer awards yesterday, but Pipe Dream had a couple of its own selections:

Striker of the Year: Cameron Keith, sophomore, Binghamton University

Simply put, Keith was unreal when he stepped on the pitch in his debut season. Despite playing in only 14 games because of injury, the Scottish-born striker scored 10 goals and added two assists. He saved his best performances for the biggest stages: at home against AE rival Boston he scored twice, and against Cornell he scored his first of two hat tricks. To put his statistics in perspective, consider this: the second-best scorer in the AE only notched six goals. As Binghamton was a defensive-oriented team before he recovered from injury, Keith added a special dimension to a team that lacked go-to scoring.

Midfielder of the Year: Gary Muir, Hartford

Muir took a lot of shots this year (50) and only scored three goals. Yet his six assists tied for first in the conference, so Muir was more of a point guard than a scorer. He also deserves recognition for helping lead Hartford, which hadn’t made the AE playoffs since 2003, to a No. 4 seed in the AE championship. Hartford was picked to finish sixth in the preseason poll.

Also considered: Michael Palacio, Stony Brook

Defender of the Year: Adam Chavez, senior, Binghamton

The leader of the top defense in the AE, Chavez has been fantastic all season. He won AE Player of the Week honors early in the season, which is almost unheard of for a defender who didn’t score that week. Chavez is a big, strong defender who also has speed. He’ll mark the top striker on the opposition: it doesn’t matter if the striker is a small, quick pest or a tall outside marksman.

Goalkeeper of the Year: Roger Scully, Vermont

For most of the season, it looked like a neck-and-neck race between Binghamton’s Jason Stenta and UMBC’s Steven King. The two were nearly identical in goals-against-average and shutouts. Both benefited immensely from the strong defenses in front of them. Late in the AE season, however, Scully proved to be the best keeper, as he led the conference in GAA and shutouts in AE games. Only allowing three goals in eight AE games, Scully led the charge as the Catamounts made a late push to win the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.

Also considered: Jason Stenta, Binghamton; Steven King, UMBC

Rookie of the Year: Aaron O’Neal, Boston

O’Neal is the runaway winner here, having scored six goals and four assists in his first year in college. His emergence helped Boston earn a No. 3 seed despite graduating big-time talent from 2006. O’Neal was the only player to win Rookie of the Week honors twice in 2007.

Coaching Staff of the Year: Paul Marco, Binghamton

Call this one a mulligan. As I wrote last winter, Marco deserved the award in 2006 after finishing in first despite graduating a boatload of talent from the year before. In 2007, Marco’s Bearcats were fantastic out of conference and at home, but slumped on the road against inferior AE opponents. Assistants John Scott and Beau Brinsko also deserve respect for their contributions. Scott’s Scottish recruiting ties have led to an influx of excellent international players like Keith, Barry Neville and Liam Carson.

Also considered: Dan Gaspar, Hartford; Pete Caringi, UMBC