2021 Men's @ASUNSoccer Postseason Honors Announced; UCA Earns Three Individual Honors
2021 Men's @ASUNSoccer Postseason Honors Announced; UCA Earns Three Individual Honors
All-Conference Teams/Awards
ATLANTA, Ga. - Central Arkansas highlighted the ASUN Conference Men's Soccer postseason awards by collecting three individual superlative honors in its first season as a member of the league, announced by the conference office on Thursday. The Bears' Alberto Suarez claimed Player and Defensive Player of the Year honors while Frank Kohlenstein was named Coach of the Year in his first season leading the UCA program. Lipscomb's Noah Gulden earned the Defensive Player of the Year honor while FGCU's Gustavo Vasconcelos earned the third Goalkeeper of the Year distinction of his career. Stetson's Nelson Pereira rounded out the individual recognitions as he was the Freshman of the Year honoree.
Suarez was voted Player and Defensive Player of the Year in the Bears' inaugural season in the ASUN after ending the regular season tied for the league lead in goals (7) and tied second for points (15). He became the first student-athlete in league history to receive both awards in the same year since the defensive award was recognized in 2003. The senior ranked 27th in the country with three game-winners and helped the Bears to a share of the ASUN Regular Season crown. The Zaragosa, Spain, native was part of a Bears' defense that posted six shutouts and ranked 39th nationally with a .400 shutout percentage.
Gulden earned the Defensive Player of the Year honor after posting a league-best seven assists and helping the Bisons to a share of the regular-season title. The Drammen, Norway, native became the third Lipscomb student-athlete to earn four All-Conference First Team selections, joining Ivan Alvarado (2014-17) and Logan Paynter (2015-18). Gulden was an instrumental part in Lipscomb ranking 21st in the country with 2.27 assists per game and helping the Bisons rank 40th nationally with a +13 goal differential.
For the third time in four years, Vasconcelos earned the Goalkeeper of the Year nod after claiming the honor following the 2021 Spring season. The Eagles' keeper also became the sixth player in FGCU history to be named a three-time All-Conference First Team selection. This season, Vasconcelos was tied for the league lead with 49 saves while he was second with a .754 save percentage. He averaged 4.9 saves per game to rank 17th in the nation and his total saves this fall were ranked 73rd in the country.
Pereira is just the second Hatter to earn the Freshman of the Year award as he was tied for the league lead with seven goals and posted a league-best 16 points this season. He averaged 1.14 points per contest in a Stetson offense that was tied for second in the league with 28 goals. The forward from Portugal helped guide the Hatters to their league-best 26th appearance in the ASUN Championship.
Kohlenstein collected Central Arkansas' first ASUN Coach of the Year award in his first year on the sideline as he led the Bears to a 5-2 conference record (10-5 overall) and a share of the ASUN Regular Season title. The Bears posted two four-match winning streaks this fall and ranked as high as 21st in the United Soccer Coaches rankings this season.
Player of the Year: Alberto Suarez, Central Arkansas
Defensive Player of the Year: Alberto Suarez, Central Arkansas & Noah Gulden, Lipscomb
Goalkeeper of the Year: Gustavo Vasconcelos, FGCU
Freshman of the Year: Nelson Pereira, Stetson
Coach of the Year: Frank Kohlenstein, Central Arkansas
ASUN All-Conference First Team
GK - Gustavo Vasconcelos, FGCU, Sr., Recife, Brazil
*D - Alberto Suarez, Central Arkansas, Sr., Zaragosa, Spain
D - Noah Gulden, Lipscomb, Sr., Drammen, Norway
D - Scott Gulden, Lipscomb, Sr., Drammen, Norway
D - Alvaro Gabancho, Stetson, So., Gijon, Spain
MF - Karim Diao, Central Arkansas, Jr., Bordeaux, France
MF - Ethan Dudley, FGCU, Sr., St. John's, Fla.
MF - Marko Mitrevski, Liberty, Jr., Rochester, N.Y.
*F - O'Vonte Mullings, FGCU, Sr., Toronto, Ontario
F - Tyrese Spicer, Lipscomb, So., Trincity, Trinidad and Tobago
F - Nelson Pereira, Stetson, Fr., Silveira, Portugal
ASUN All-Conference Second Team
GK - Zach Schawl, Central Arkansas, So., Scottsdale, Ariz
D - Nate Girao, Bellarmine, Sr., Oldham, Ky.
D - Louis Robinson, Lipscomb, Sr., Nottingham, U.K.
D - William Suaut, Stetson, Sr., Nice, France
MF - Vicent Abaso, Central Arkansas, Sr., Burriana, Spain
MF - Luca Naumann, Lipscomb, So., Berlin, Germany
MF - Seth Clark, Liberty, So., Darfield, New Zealand
MF - Gio Rodriguez, Stetson, So., Pompano Beach, Fla.
F - Juan Ballas, Bellarmine, Jr., Santiago, Chile
F - Noah Holmes, Liberty, So., Apex, N.C.
F - Hayes Wood, Lipscomb, Jr., Chattanooga, Tenn.
ASUN All-Freshmen Team
*F - Nelson Pereira, Stetson, Silveira, Portugal
*F - Jonathan Randall, Central Arkansas, Arvada, Colo.
*F - Michael Catanzarite, Liberty, Syracuse, N.Y.
*MF - Carlo Cavalar, Lipscomb, Bonn, Germany
*F - Joaquin Acuna, North Florida, Naples, Fla.
*MF - Alessandro Gabbani, Stetson, Rome, Italy
D - Rikard Cederberg, Bellarmine, Gothenburg, Sweden
D - Kris Naicker, Central Arkansas, Auckland, New Zealand
GK - Blake Franzen, Liberty, Johannesburg, South Africa
F - Gora Gora, Liberty, Stillwater, Minn.
D - Steven Johnson-Fikula, Stetson, Nottingham, England
MF - Gabriel Toro, Stetson, Sanford, Fla.
* - denotes unanimous selection
** - ties in voting resulted in a 12-person All-Freshmen Team
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The ASUN, a Division I conference member of the NCAA, boasts a membership of institutions that share visionary leadership, bold ambition and creative innovation. As a nimble adaptive conference, unafraid to blaze a national pathway for better service to our student-athletes, teams, and institutions, the ASUN has a proud history of firsts, national academic and athletic achievements and a conference culture that walks the walk with its four ASUN Beams. Students First! Rise. Connect. Impact. #ASUNBuilt by Bellarmine (Louisville), Central Arkansas (Conway), Eastern Kentucky (Richmond), FGCU (Fort Myers), Jacksonville (Fla.), Jacksonville State (Jacksonville, Ala.), Kennesaw State (Ga.), Liberty (Lynchburg, Va.), Lipscomb (Nashville), North Alabama (Florence), North Florida (Jacksonville, Fla.), and Stetson (DeLand, Fla.). Austin Peay, based in Clarksville, Tenn., is set to join the league in the 2022-23 academic year.