For 4 years Niko Amato has been the fulcrum of Maryland’s defense. Each year he has clearly been one of the top 2 or 3 goalies in the NCAA. Edward Lee of the Sun laid out the stats:
“Amato became the first goalkeeper in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference to be named to the All-ACC team four times. He has recorded 601 career saves, becoming only the third goalie in program history to register 600 stops. Amato is one of just three goalkeepers in the NCAA tournament field who ranks in the top 10 in both goals-against average (fourth at 7.19) and save percentage (sixth at .577).”
Niko has been a model of consistency during his tenure. Maryland has made 2 championship games and of course this year the Terps are still alive. After the Navy game, Amato’s last regular season home game, I asked Coach Tillman if he ever considered removing Niko from a game in his career—- the answer was a very simple “No”
How in the world could he not have been a finalist?
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