Ocean City Barons goalkeeper Tunde Ogunbiyi was named to the Premier Development League’s All-Conference Team, becoming the first Baron to win post-season honors since the 2006 season. Ogunbiyi, in his second season with the club, was 5-4-2 in 11 games played and ranked third in the PDL in goals against average (0.76) and second in goals allowed (8). The Gwynedd, PA native also earned five shutouts, three of them coming in his first three starts of the season, that were crucial to the Barons qualifying for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. His goals against average and shutout totals are the second-best single-season total in Barons history.

Tunde Ogunbiyi makes a save against D.C. United in US Open Cup play. Photo by Bill Pellegrino

 
"No successful goalkeeper doesn’t have a good defense in front of him and that’s what I had this year," said Ogunbiyi, who says that this is the first individual award he’s ever received. "It’s been a great season for me, the Barons organization and the coaching has been great, and they put together a great defense in front of me. The defense all gets along really well, and that has definitely helped."

While in-season tournaments are not factored into the criteria for PDL awards, Ogunbiyi also earned two shutouts in Open Cup play against professional sides Crystal Palace Baltimore and Real Maryland. The seven shutouts in all competitions is the most ever by a Barons goalkeeper.
 
"Tunde deserves all the accolades he gets," said a very proud head coach Neil Holloway. "He has been a man mountain for us and has been a key factor in the success we’ve had. I truly believe Tunde will go on to play at the pro level and we are glad that we can play a part in helping him achieve his goal."

Last year, he played in only five games (2-1-2) as he spent time that summer with the Nigerian Olympic Team, preparing for the Beijing Games.

Ogunbiyi will be a junior at Boston College in the Fall, after transferring from the University of New Hampshire. Last year, he spent the year training with the Eagles program as he took the mandatory year off because of NCAA rules regarding transferring to other schools. Now he is ready to battle for the starting job at a top notch program.

"I’m going into the college season more prepared than I’ve ever been," said Ogunbiyi who has played in 16 games so far this season with the Barons, including playoffs and Open Cup games. "The best part is the games that I’ve played in haven’t been against random teams, we’ve played D.C. United, the Ottawa Fury three times, Long Island twice, Brooklyn twice ... some really good teams. I think it will be a really good [college] season for me."

This PDL season may give Ogunbiyi an edge entering the 2009 college season, as he will be competing against three other goalkeepers for the starting job at BC, none of which played in the PDL this summer.

For the full USL press release, including a full list of the PDL All-Conference teams, click here.