Big South Announces Top Men Soccer Honors
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Coastal Carolina forward Ashton Bennett was named the 2012 Big South Men's Soccer Attacking Player of the Year, while High Point goalkeeper Kody Palmer was named the Conference's Freshman of the Year. Chanticleer defender Kjartan Sigurdsson was tabbed the League's Defensive Player of the Year as voted by the League's head coaches, it was announced today. In addition, Coastal Carolina mentor Shaun Docking was tabbed the Coach of the Year and High Point midfielder Shawn Sloan was selected the Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the League's sports information directors.
Bennett, a senior from Claredon, Jamaica, is just the third player in Big South Conference history to be named the League's Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons. He led his squad to the No. 1 seed in the Big South Men's Soccer Championship as he finished the regular season ranked in the top 20 in the country in four offensive categories. The consensus Preseason All-American closed out the regular-season ranked No. 8 in the country with 32 total points and No. 10 in the nation with 13 total goals. His 1.68 points per game is currently ranked No. 16 in Division I, while his 0.68 goals per game is good for No. 20 in the nation. Bennett was named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week twice this season and was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Team of the Week on Oct. 15. He was named to the 2012 M.A.C. Hermann Trophy Watch list this season after being voted a Hermann Trophy semifinalist during the 2011 season. Bennett posted five multi-goal games on the year and scored a point in 12 of the Chanticleers' 19 matches this season. Bennett recorded eight first-place votes to finish with 17 points, ahead of Mitchell Cardenas of Campbell, who notched two top bids and nine points.
Palmer, a redshirt-freshman from Centreville, Va., finished the 2012 season ranked No. 1 in the Big South with nine shutouts. His nine clean sheets this season tied the High Point record for shutouts in a season. His 0.70 goals against average is No. 2 in the Big South as he finished the season with a 12-4-2 record. He started every match for the Panthers this season and was named the League's Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 11. Palmer notched three top votes to finish with eight points, followed by Jamie Summers of Radford, who picked up three first-place votes and seven points.
Sigurdsson, a sophomore from Fludir, Iceland, was named one of 10 sophomores to watch this season by TopDrawerSoccer.com. He is one of just four Chanticleer players to start all 18 games for Coastal this season. He organized a Coastal Carolina backline that finished the regular-season ranked No. 6 in the nation with a 0.61 team goals against average. Sigurdsson helped the Chanticleers to 10 shutouts on the year, including eight in League matches. His play anchored the Coastal Carolina backline that allowed just 12 goals on the year, with two coming in Conference games. Sigurdsson posted six first-place votes and 13 points, ahead of Fejiro Okiomah of High Point, who received two top bids and eight points.
Docking earns his second-straight and seventh Big South Men's Soccer Coach of the Year nod after guiding his squad to a 16-1-2 overall record and a perfect 10-0-0 mark in Big South play to pick up Coastal Carolina's 11th Big South Regular Season Championship. His Chanticleers are ranked No. 8 in the national polls, as well as No. 1 in the nation with 48 total goals and No. 2 in Division I with 145 points. His squad's 2.53 goals per game is good for No. 5 in the country. He is the only coach in Big South Conference history to earn multiple back-to-back Coach of the Year honors as he was named Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2003. Docking posted seven first-votes and 15 points as Marc Reeves from Radford finished second in the voting with two No. 1 votes and nine points.
Sloan, a senior from Geneva, Ill., earns his second Scholar-Athlete of the Year nod after finishing the regular-season ranked No. 9 in the nation with nine assists. He is currently ranked No. 7 in the Conference with 1.46 points per game as he posted a League-high nine-game scoring streak from Aug. 25 to Sept. 25. Sloan is a chemistry major and carries a perfect 4.0 GPA. He was named a Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District selection last week.
2012 BIG SOUTH MEN'S SOCCER HONORS
First Team All-Conference
F - Ashton Bennett, Coastal Carolina
F - Ricky Garbanzo, Coastal Carolina
F - Mamadee Nypon, High Point
MF - Pedro Ribero, Coastal Carolina
MF - Mitchell Cardenas, Campbell
MF - Shawn Sloan, High Point
MF - Justin Portillo, Coastal Carolina
D - Fejiro Okiomah, High Point
D - Kjartan Sigurdsson, Coastal Carolina
D - Greg White, Liberty
D - Travis Golden, Campbell
GK - Ryan Taylor, Radford
At Large - Bernardo Ulmo, Radford, MF
Second Team All-Conference
F - Jhuvon Francis, Campbell
F - Kyle Breitmeyer, Liberty
F - Alex Isern, Winthrop
MF - Dario Redondo, Radford
MF - Adam Sewell, High Point
MF - Shane Malcolm, High Point
MF - Richard Nyarko, Liberty
D - Uriah Bentick, Liberty
D - Henrik Robstad, Coastal Carolina
D - Jon Ole Reinhardsen, Gardner-Webb
D - Uchenna Uzo, Coastal Carolina
GK - Ethan Hall, Campbell
At Large - Federico Bertele, Coastal Carolina, GK
All-Freshman
Jhamie Hyde, Coastal Carolina - D
Jamie Summers, Radford - D
Kody Palmer, High Point - GK
Isaiah Page, Campbell - MF
Tim Harbison, Liberty - D
Austin Yearwood, High Point - D
Magnus Thorsson, Winthrop - MF
Jannik Eckenrode, Radford - MF/F
Tevin Skyers, Coastal Carolina - F
Lyssean Thomas, Gardner-Webb - MF
Matt Manter, Presbyterian College - F
Attacking Player of the Year
Ashton Bennett, Coastal Carolina
Freshman of the Year
Kody Palmer, High Point
Defensive Player of the Year
Kjartan Sigurdsson, Coastal Carolina
Coach of the Year
Shaun Docking, Coastal Carolina
All-Academic
Shawn Sloan, High Point
Ryan Taylor, Radford
Alex Isern, Winthrop
Matthew "Scooter" Oliver, Campbell
Bobby Castro, UNC Asheville
Newt Turk, Presbyterian College
Henrick Robstad, Coastal Carolina
Chris Davis, Gardner-Webb
Uriah Bentick, Liberty
Devin Pierce, Longwood
Kyle Farmer, VMI
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Shawn Sloan, High Point