Willington's Toomey Named Little East Conference Man Of Year At ECSU

WILLIMANTIC, CT — The Little East Conference has named recent graduates Will Toomey (Willington) of Eastern Connecticut State University and Edward Lundy of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and its 2021-22 Man of the Year recipients in recognition of their outstanding achievements in the classroom, in the community and in intercollegiate athletics.

This is the first year of the LEC Man of the Year honor, which coincides with the inaugural Division III Commissioner's Association Student-Athlete of the Year awards being presented this summer.

A soccer team captain, Toomey earned a 3.86 GPA while earning his bachelor's degree in health science, with a concentration in allied health. He received the 2022 Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award from Eastern's health sciences department, was inducted in the Phi Theta Delta Honor Society and was in the University's honors program. He was named to the LEC All-Academic Team in each of his three years of eligibility, and was elected to the United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-Region Team as a senior.

A former All-New England player at E.O. Smith High School in Storrs, Toomey led the Warriors to three consecutive LEC regular season titles and the 2021 LEC tournament championship, for which he was named the 2021 LEC Championship Tournament Most Outstanding Player. He was an All-LEC selection three times, and earned All-Region honors from the United Soccer Coaches as a senior. Toomey was named Eastern's Francis E. Geissler Senior Male Sportsperson of the Year, which is voted upon by the department's head coaches and is presented for dedication, loyalty, integrity, sportsmanship, enthusiasm, community service, and devotion to the team.

Off the field, Toomey served in a number of roles at the University designed to assist his fellow students, serving as a peer mentor and assisting in the ECSU advising center. He also worked as a teaching assistant in a genetics lab and as a dual enrollment coordinator, working with high schools that offered courses for college credit. As a freshman and sophomore, the team won the United Soccer Coaches Pinnacle Award, which honors NCAA programs with high levels of achievement in team ethics, academics and winning percentage; Eastern was the only winner in 2019-20 and one of just two winners in the award's inaugural year of 2018-19.

Toomey said as part of his personal statement, "Before arriving at Eastern, I lacked the ability to get outside of my comfort zone. I had developed sufficient skills in social, athletic, academic, and service areas, but was hesitant to take on a challenge that was uncomfortable. My experiences as team captain and in various on-campus roles at Eastern has given me the ability and courage to accept challenges head on, and be a strong leader."