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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- UMass Lowell senior forward Wuilito Fernandes (Praia, Cape Verde) has earned National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-America First Team honors, as announced by the NSCAA on Friday afternoon.

Fernandes becomes the seventh player in program history, and first in Division I, to be named an All-American, and the first since Homero Morais picked up Third-Team honors in 2013. The senior joins Morais, Brandon Curran, Jason Paige, Jonathan Curran, Edens Cherry and Matias Pietropinto as the other River Hawks to pick up All-America honors.

"This continues to be an exciting time for UMass Lowell Men's Soccer, and particularly for Wuilito Fernandes," exclaimed Head Coach Christian Figueroa. "To be recognized as an All-American by the other coaches in the nation is a strong compliment and an outstanding accomplishment for Wuilito. His work and dedication to this team over the course of the season has put him in a position to receive this recognition. We couldn't be happier to see such a wonderful person be named an All-American after everything he has given to this program."

In 2016, the Praia, Cape Verde native set career highs with 11 goals, five assists and 27 points en route to UMass Lowell capturing the school's first America East Championship with a 2-1 win against Hartford on November 2. The River Hawks finished the season 13-1-2, and reached as high as No. 11 in the Top 25 and No. 3 in the RPI.

As the team's leading scorer, Fernandes led the conference with 1.69 points per game and finishes his career eighth in total scoring (60 points) and eighth in career goals (25). The forward also tied the third-best scoring mark in a single season with 11 tallies.

The All-America honors continues an impressive award season for Fernandes, as he has already been named the America East Striker of the Year, a 2016 MAC Hermann Semifinalist and has earned America East All-Conference First Team and NSCAA All-East Region First Team accolades.