For the first time in 15 years, the St. Joe’s men’s soccer program has garnered an Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team player, junior forward Leon Maric. Sophomore defender David Grana also received a conference accolade, earning a spot on the A-10 All-Academic Team.
Maric is the 11th St. Joe’s player in program history to receive this award, joining his current Head Coach Don D’Ambra as part of that group.
Grana, a biology major, maintained a 4.0 grade point average en route to receiving his position on the All-Academic team. He is the 16th Hawk in program history to receive the award.
D’Ambra said he’s very proud of both their performances on and off the field.
“[Maric] has come in and made the difference,” D’Ambra said. “Just being that goal-scoring threat. The thing that I’m most pleased with is that he has a team mentality. Also, Grana is one of our hardest workers on the field and also in his academics. For him to do well on the field and also excel at such a high level academically, I’m really glad that he’s getting acknowledged for that.”
Grana said he wanted to achieve a good GPA so he could be prepared for his future profession.
“My goal is to eventually go to medical school,” Grana said. “My brother is currently going through the process now and I know he’s going to get there, but I want to follow his path.”
Maric’s 2018 season was his first with the Hawks after transferring from the University of Virginia. In 2016, he played five games for the Cavaliers and in 2017, he appeared in one.
Maric said he was good enough to start at Virginia but wasn’t getting any playing time on the team, so when he transferred, he worked hard to prove himself with the Hawks. With St. Joe’s, he has led all the A-10 forwards in goals.
“I conditioned all summer and went out and played my hardest every game,” Maric said.
D’Ambra said that Maric’s accolade has a lot of significance, being that he is the first St. Joe’s men’s soccer player to receive it in 15 years.
“It’s good to have that type of exposure within the conference,” D’Ambra said. “We need to continue to strive to get more of that representation. It’s good to show that kids within our program are making a difference within the conference.”
Grana said he has similar motivations for both academics and his performance on the field.
“Athletically, our record wasn’t great last year and, as a defender, I wanted to concede less goals and ultimately win more games,” Grana said. “Academically, it’s the same motivation, and using the best of what time I have and studying hard to make sure that I achieve my accomplishments.”
Maric said his success on the field this year is entirely because of his teammates and coach.
“I don’t think of this as an individual award,” Maric said. “I look a this primarily as a team award. My coach won these honors when he played here and played the same position as me so he knew exactly how to keep my head up and keep me going.”
D’Ambra said both players set a standard for other players on the team, especially the younger guys.
“To have someone like Grana that works as hard as he does is showing the younger guys that this is how things are supposed to be done,” D’Ambra said. “Also, with Leon coming in and doing as well as he has, it’s lifted expectations. It’s created a large amount of excitement.”
