To your question regarding SSDM's being a 'speciality' position, you are indeed correct, specifically at the Division 1 level. Very seldom will you find a two way midfielder as most coaches want to preserve their middies to either be an offensive middle or a defensive middle. Obviously when they are recruiting, they want to find a player who is capable of playing at both ends of the field in the event that they get caught in transition or another scenario but they will recruit players to serve on role. Also, because it is so competitive, even though a player may have been a stud on the offensive side of the ball, the coach may not think he is good enough to play and if he thinks he is better a defensive compared to the others, the coach will then make him strictly be a SSDM. Lastly, in 2008/2009, they made SSDM for the end of the year All-American honors for the Unterstein brothers at Hofstra. Good question.