OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – The list of the 10 finalists for the 2021 Senior CLASS Award for men's soccer was announced on Thursday and Navy defender Matt Nocita (Sr., Porter Ranch, Calif.) was amongst the elite candidates that were selected for the nation-wide award.

To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior or graduate student and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

Nocita, a history major, owns a 3.58 GPA along with ranking in the top five percent of the Class of 2022 in the Academy's Military Order of Merit. For his academic accomplishments, he was named a CoSIDA Second-Team Academic All-American following last season. The senior has been named to the Naval Academy Superintendent's List three times, Commandant's List four times and Dean's List twice.

On the field, Nocita has compiled a decorated résumé over his three-plus seasons as a member of the Navy men's soccer program. He is a two-time Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year and was named the Patriot League Preseason Defensive Player of the Year prior to the start of the 2021 season.

Additionally, Nocita is a three-time All-Patriot League selection including being named a First-Team All-Patriot League honoree following each of the last two seasons.

In addition to starting all 55 games he's appeared in as an anchor of the Navy defense, Nocita has proved to be a contributor on offense with 14 career points on six goals and two assists.

In assisting the community, Nocita has played an important role in the operations and coaching of Navy men's soccer youth camps.

Nocita becomes the first Navy men's soccer player to reach final 10-candidate list for the Senior CLASS Award since Evan Barnes who won the award following the 2007 season in addition to being the only Patriot League men's soccer player to advance from the intital 30-candidate list. 

The finalists were chosen by a selection committee from the list of 30 men's candidates announced earlier this season. Nationwide fan voting begins immediately to help select the winner, and fans are encouraged to vote on the Senior CLASS Award website through November 22, a link to the fan voting section can be found HERE. Fan votes will be combined with media and NCAA Division I head coaches' votes to determine a winner.

The Senior CLASS Award winners will be announced during the 2021 NCAA Men's and Women's College Cup ® championships in December.

The Senior CLASS Award 2021 Men's Soccer Candidates
Vitor Dias, Midfielder, Marshall
Pedro Dolabella, Midfielder, Marshall
Matthew Fearnley, Midfielder, Georgia State
Spencer Glass, Defender, Indiana
Billy Hency, Midfielder, Loyola Chicago
Kyle Hiebert, Defender, Missouri State
Noah Jensen, Midfielder, Oakland
Matt Nocita, Defender, Navy 
Pierre Reedy, Midfielder, Penn State
Sean Zawadzki, Defender, Georgetown