Schmiege, Gearin, Nasta Collect Top @ASunSoccer Honors
Schmiege, Gearin, Nasta Collect Top @ASunSoccer Honors
2014 Men's Soccer Postseason Awards and Honors
MACON, Ga. - USC Upstate's Marvin Schmiege was named the 2014 Atlantic Sun Men's Soccer Player of the Year, announced Tuesday by the league office. He was joined on the All-Conference First Team by seven members of co-regular season champions Lipscomb and FGCU.
Schmiege becomes the first Spartan to earn the A-Sun Player of the Year award after leading the league in goals this season. The German native netted nine goals, including six in conference play. He also was tied for the league-lead with three game-winning goals. His game-winners against Jacksonville and Northern Kentucky propelled USC Upstate back into the A-Sun Championship field for the first time since 2012. This marks the first time he has earned first team honors, after finishing on the second team last season.
Lipscomb's Luke Gearin took home the A-Sun Defensive Player of the Year honor after he helped lead the Bisons to their first A-Sun Regular Season title. A team captain, the senior organized the defense and helped out offensively as well. Gearin scored a career-high eight goals, including two game-winners in back-to-back matches. The Bisons recorded four shutouts and posted a school-record 12 wins.
The Goalkeeper of the Year award went to North Florida's Kyle Nasta. Nasta becomes the first Osprey to win a superlative award since joining the A-Sun. He came in for the Ospreys midway through the season to stabilize the backline. In his eight starts for North Florida he recorded four shutouts. During conference play he made 2.33 saves per game, while only allowing 1.50 goals against on average. He held a scoreless streak of 242 minutes during the season.
Stetson head coach Ernie Yarborough was voted A-Sun Coach of the Year in his first year at the helm of the Hatter program. Yarborough took over the team just weeks before the opening kickoff and guided the Hatters to their best season since 2011. Under his guidance, Stetson led the league in goals scored overall (34) and during conference play (13). Throughout the season, the team was ranked in the NSCAA Southeast Regional for its efforts. The Hatters are the No. 3 seed heading into the A-Sun Championship this week.
FGCU had four players voted to the All-Conference First Team in goalkeeper Nathan Ingham, defender Aaron Guillen, and midfielder Rodrigo Saravia and forward Felipe DeSousa. For Guillen and DeSousa, this marks the second-consecutive year they are named to the first team. DeSousa shared the team-lead with four goals this year, while Guillen and Ingham were part of the best defense in the league. Ingham played every minute in goal and allowed a league-best 0.77 goals against average. Saravia earns his third-straight All-Conference selection.
The Bisons were rewarded for their remarkable campaign with three players on the first team for the first time in program-history. Joining Gearin were forward Matt Kerridge and Freshman of the Year selection Ivan Alvarado. Kerridge had a breakout year for Lipscomb with seven goals and 17 points. He ranked third in the league in both categories.
Alvarado, the first Lipscomb player to win Freshman of the Year since 2008, scored two critical goals down the stretch to lead the Bisons to their first regular season title. He was voted Player of the Week the final two weeks for his efforts, and ranked second among goals scored by freshman with four. He also added eight assists, second in the A-Sun, to his tally this season. His two-game winners in the final weeks have Lipscomb riding a school-record five match winning streak into the A-Sun Championship.
Nasta was joined by two Osprey teammates on the All-Conference First Team in Helge Pietschmann and Diogo Quirino. This is the first-time in the Division-I era that multiple Ospreys were voted to the first team. Quirino was a rock defensively for the Ospreys all season long as he started and played every minute. He garnered 2014 Mike Gibbs Tournament Defensive MVP honors and helped the Osprey defense to four shutouts this season. Pietschmann made an immediate impact as a transfer this season. He scored five goals, all in conference play, and led the Osprey team with 12 points. He scored the game-winner against Jacksonville and was a Mike Gibbs All-Tournament team selection.
Rounding out the All-Conference First Team are two selections from Stetson, defender JJ Bostic and forward Eli Beates. Bostic, a team co-captain this year, earns his second career all-conference award. He ranked third in the conference in goals scored with seven, while starting and playing every minute in his senior campaign. Bostic anchored a Stetson defense that only allowed 0.77 GAA in conference play. Beates makes his first A-Sun All-Conference appearance after a breakout season for the Hatters. He scored five goals, four in conference play. His 11 total points ranked him third on the team.
The 2014 A-Sun Men's Soccer Championship begins on Wednesday, November 12 with first round matches between No. 3 Stetson and No. 6 Northern Kentucky in Nashville, Tenn. at 5 p.m. ET. No. 4 North Florida takes on No. 5 USC Upstate at 8 p.m. ET. Fans can watch both matches for free on ASun.TV.
All-Atlantic Sun First Team
GK - Nathan Ingham, FGCU
GK - Kyle Nasta, North Florida
D - Aaron Guillen, FGCU
*D - Luke Gearin, Lipscomb
D - Diogo Quirino, North Florida
D - JJ Bostic, Stetson
MF - Rodrigo Saravia, FGCU
MF - Ivan Alvarado, Lipscomb
*MF - Marvin Schmiege, USC Upstate
F - Felipe DeSousa, FGCU
F - Matt Kerridge, Lipscomb
F - Helge Pietschmann, North Florida
F - Eli Beates, Stetson
* - Denotes a unanimous vote
-A tie in the voting led to a 13-person first team all-conference
All-Atlantic Sun Second Team
GK - Nate Davis, Lipscomb
D - Griffin Kelly, Jacksonville
D - Jay Bolt, North Florida
D - Ian O'Reilly, Northern Kentucky
MF - Isaiah Madrid, FGCU
MF - Alex Morrell, North Florida
MF - Cian McDonald, Northern Kentucky
MF - Lucas Diniz, Stetson
F - Henry Penagos, FGCU
F - Ejiroghene Mrabure, Jacksonville
F - Reece Holcombe, Lipscomb
F - Jared Huber, Stetson
- A tie in the voting led to a 12-person second team
All-Atlantic Sun Freshman Team
*MF - Ivan Alvarado, Lipscomb
*MF - Jared Huber, Stetson
MF - Miguel Jaime, FGCU
F - Albert Ruiz, FGCU
MF - Rijad Kobiljar, Jacksonville
F - Ejiroghene Mrabure, Jacksonville
GK - Nate Davis, Lipscomb
MF - Heiko Allmendinger, USC Upstate
D - Lukas Sommer, USC Upstate
F - Marco Hjorth, Stetson
D - Jeppe Moe, Stetson
* - Denotes a unanimous vote
- A tie in the voting led to a 12-person freshman team