Big South Announces 2023 Men's Soccer Annual Award Winners
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – High Point midfielder
Jefferson Amaya (Charlotte, N.C.) and teammate defender
Finn McRobb (Glasgow, Scotland) have been voted the 2023 Big South Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively, by the conference’s head coaches, it was announced this afternoon by the league office. UNC Asheville junior
Charlie Farrar (Wakefield, United Kingdom) was voted the Goalkeeper of the Year, while Presbyterian College forward
Victor Faaborg Christensen (Gammel Holte, Denmark) was tabbed Freshman of the Year. PC forward
Damorney Hutchinson (St. Thomas, Jamaica) was voted Newcomer of the Year, High Point head coach
Zach Haines was voted Coach of the Year, and the Big South’s sports information directors voted HPU’s
Noah Holmes (Cary, N.C.) as the Men’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Amaya is the first High Point player to win Big South Offensive Player of the Year honors since the 2021 Spring season and third overall. Last year’s Big South Freshman of the Year, Amaya tallied five goals and six assists for 16 points. In league action, he had four goals and four assists, and was a two-time Offensive Player of the Week honoree. In the Offensive Player of the Year voting, Amaya received three first-place votes and 13 points, ahead of Hutchinson and USC Upstate’s
Jeremy Montero, who both received one first-place vote and tied with 10 points
.
McRobb is the first Panther to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors since 2018 and third time overall. He was part of a defense that allowed just five goals in Big South action, and provided five goals on the offensive end. McRobb was the Big South Defensive Player of the Week twice, and was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Team of the Week on Sept. 18. McRobb received five first-place votes and 15 points, ahead of UNC Asheville’s
Myles Edmondson (one first-place vote and 11 points) and Winthrop’s
Diego Candia (one first-place vote and eight points).
Farrar has been a mainstay in net this season for Asheville, posting a 9-4-2 record between the pipes with three shutouts. He ranks third in the Big South in goals against average (1.40), third in saves (59) and second in save percentage (.738). He was named Big South Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 30 after a career-high 10 saves in a victory over Winthrop. Farrar received five first-place votes and 16 points, just ahead of High Point’s
Josh Caron (15 points and three first-place votes) and USC Upstate’s
Cooper Jennings (seven points).
Faaborg Christensen is the first Blue Hose player to earn Freshman of the Year honors. He led the Big South in points with 17 (6 goals, 5 assists), was tied for second in the Big South in goals with six -- three of which came against Big South Conference foes. A three-time Big South Freshman of the Week honoree (August 28, September 25, October 30), he helped the Blue Hose offensive attack rank among the highest-scoring teams in the Big South. Faaborg Christensen received five first-place votes and 19 points, ahead of High Point’s
Anthony Ramirez (two first-place votes and 11 points) and Gardner-Webb’s
Max Fisher (nine points).
Hutchinson is the first Big South Men’s Soccer Newcomer of the Year, which recognizes the top non-freshman transfer playing in the Big South for the first time. In his first season with the Blue Hose, he led the league in goals with seven, with six of those goals coming against conference foes. Hutchinson is tied for second in the Big South with 16 points (7 goals, 2 assists). He collected three first-place votes and 12 points, just ahead of High Point’s
Seth Antwi (11 points and two points), and Winthrop’s
Ricardo Ferreira (10 points and one first-place vote).
Haines earns his second consecutive Big South Coach of the Year honor after leading the Panthers to a 6-0-1 Big South record -- the lone Big South squad to not suffer a conference defeat in 2023. High Point finished the regular-season 9-3-4 overall. The Panthers finished the regular-season first in the conference in goals (32), goals per game (2.00), fewest goals allowed (18), goals-against average (1.13) and shutouts (6). In Big South matches, HPU allowed the fewest goals (5), had the lowest GAA (0.71), and had the most shutouts (4), points (54), goals (19), goals per game (2.71), assists (16) and assists per game (2.29). Haines received three first-place votes and 15 points, just ahead of UNC Asheville’s
Mick Giordano (three first-place votes and 13 points), and PC’s
Nick Finotti (one first-place vote and six points).
Holmes carries a 4.0 GPA working on his MBA in Business Analytics. He had three goals and seven points in seven Big South matches this season, and was named to the TDS National Team of the Week as well as the College Soccer News National Team of the Week in early October.
The league also announced the 2023 All-Conference and All-Academic teams on Friday, which are listed below. The All-Conference team is voted by the head coaches and features three forwards, four midfielders, four defenders, one goalkeeper and one at-large spot on each team, plus five honorable mention honorees regardless of position and a seven-member all-freshman team. The All-Academic Team consists of one student-athlete from each institution that meets the criteria and is nominated and selected by the Big South’s sports information directors.
2023 Big South Conference Men’s Soccer Award Winners
First-Team All-Conference
F: Damorney Hutchinson, Jr., Presbyterian College
F: Ricardo Ferreira, Jr., Winthrop
F: Victor Faaborg Christensen, Fr., Presbyterian College
MF: Jefferson Amaya, Soph., High Point
MF: Seth Antwi, Gr., High Point
MF: Brendan Herb, Sr., UNC Asheville
MF: Conor Behan, Jr., UNC Asheville
D: Finn McRobb, Sr., High Point
D: Myles Edmondson, Jr., UNC Asheville
D: Karson Kendall, Gr., High Point
D: Felipe Marty, Sr., USC Upstate
GK: Charlie Farrar, Jr., UNC Asheville
AL: Carson Griffith, Sr., Presbyterian College
Second-Team All-Conference
F: Jeremy Montero, Sr., USC Upstate
F: Pablo Brimeux, Soph., Gardner-Webb
F: Braiden Hall, Soph., USC Upstate
MF: Nick Guido, Sr., Winthrop
MF: Caio Hughes, Soph., Gardner-Webb
MF: Sam Pitts-Eckersall, Soph., UNC Asheville
MF: Kaya Ignacio, Sr., High Point
D: Shady Hammam, Gr., Radford
D: Mason Butcher, Sr., Longwood
D: Griffin Stidham, Sr., UNC Asheville
D: Diego Candia, Jr., Winthrop
GK: Josh Caron, R-Fr., High Point
AL: Santiago Hoyos, F, Soph., Gardner-Webb
Honorable Mention All-Conference
Alex Kryashev, F, Sr., Radford
Simao Coelho, F, Soph., Longwood
Alex Abril, F, Gr., High Point
Rodrigo Ferreira, MF, Jr., Winthrop
Tony Pineda, F, Gr., High Point
All-Freshman Team
Victor Faaborg Christensen, F, Fr., Presbyterian College
Anthony Ramirez, MF, Fr., High Point
Josh Caron, GK, R-Fr., High Point
Jack Steel, MF, Fr., UNC Asheville
Max Fisher, D, Fr., Gardner-Webb
Cooper Jennings, GK, R-Fr., USC Upstate
Darcy Moffat, F, Fr., Longwood (tie)
Dzenan Cerimagic, F, Fr., USC Upstate (tie)
All-Academic Team
Giampaolo Nardi, MF, Soph., Gardner-Webb
Noah Holmes, F, Gr., High Point
Gonzalo Carrasco, MF, Gr., Longwood
Carson Griffith, MF, Sr., Presbyterian College
Noah Haddad, D, Gr., Radford
Brendan Herb, MF, Sr., UNC Asheville
Jakob Benz, D, Soph., USC Upstate
Grayson Woodard, F, Sr., Winthrop
Offensive Player of the Year
Jefferson Amaya, MF, Soph., High Point
Goalkeeper of the Year
Charlie Farrar, Jr., UNC Asheville
Defensive Player of the Year
Finn McRobb, D, Sr., High Point
Freshman of the Year
Victor Faaborg Christensen, F, Presbyterian College
Newcomer of the Year
Damorney Hutchinson, Jr., F, Presbyterian College
Coach of the Year
Zach Haines, High Point
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Noah Holmes, F, Gr., High Point