WALTHAM, Mass. - Bentley University senior center-back Weston Zeiner (North Granby, Conn./Granby Memorial) was named the 2012 Northeast-10 Men's Soccer Defensive Player of the Year, the conference announced Thursday. Zeiner, along with two teammates, earned All-Conference honors as well.

Zeiner, the first player in Bentley history to win the award, anchored the team's back-four and started all 16 matches during the regular season. He also contributed offensively with two goals and two assists for six points. The team captain this season, Zeiner has been both a stalwart in the lineup and a standout for head coach Gary Crompton during his four-year career, starting 64 of a possible 73 matches overall.

"[Weston] has been a dominant presence in every game that he has been a part of at Bentley. He is the total package as a player in that he is tactically astute, technically very good on the ball and physically he is a dominant force," said Crompton. "He is more than deserving of the NE-10 Defensive Player of the Year award and he is a tribute to our entire Bentley community both on and off the playing field. 

Zeiner was also a unanimous first-team All-Conference selection. It's the third straight year he's been named first team All-Conference, to go along with a litany of distinctions he earned as a junior, including second team Academic All-America.

Joining Zeiner on the first team is senior midfielder Brennan DaCosta (San Diego, Calif./Westview). DaCosta finished the regular season leading the team in both goals (eight) and points (19), despite missing two matches with injury.

It was an impressive comeback season for DaCosta, who missed nearly all of his junior season with an injury. He was named the NE-10 Player of the Week on Monday after scoring one goal each in wins over Franklin Pierce and Southern Connecticut last week that secured the fourth-seed in the NE-10 playoffs for the Falcons.

Forward Marty Ryan (Albany, N.Y./Albany) was picked to the All-Rookie team. He played in all 16 matches during the regular season, starting 13, and scored two goals with one assist for five points. He netted the game-winning goal in Bentley's 1-0 victory over Saint Rose on Oct. 14.