SPARTANBURG, S.C. ? The 2007 Southern Conference Men’s Soccer All-Conference teams and annual awards were announced today with regular-season champion Furman leading the way with six all-conference selections and a sweep of all three major awards.
Furman defender Jon Leathers was selected as the league’s Player of the Year for the second consecutive season. A tenacious defender, Leathers anchored a Paladins’ defense that entered this week with the 12th-best defense in the country, allowing just 0.61 goals per match. A senior who scored his first career goal on Senior Day last Sunday, Leathers is the first defender to win SoCon Player of the Year honors twice and just the fifth player overall to earn the honor consecutively.
Teammate Haris Cekic earned Freshman of the Year honors while Paladin coach Doug Allison was named Coach of the Year by his fellow coaches. Cekic made a major impact for the Paladins this season with seven goals and two assists, including three goals in the past four matches. For Allison, this is his fifth Coach of the Year citation, and it came in a season where Furman was a perfect 7-0-0 in league play and 15-3-0 overall during the regular season.
Elon, College of Charleston and UNC Greensboro each had four overall selections to the all-conference teams. Leading the way for the Phoenix were first-team selections Brett Paschall, Justin Wyatt and Steven Kinney, a forward, midfielder and defender, respectively. Elon goalkeeper Clint Irwin was selected to the all-conference second team.
College of Charleston’s Kareem Yearwood, the SoCon’s leading scorer with 12 goals this season, was selected as a first-team forward while teammate Corbin Waller was the coaches’ choice for goalkeeper on the first team. The Cougars’ Justin Fojo and Wes Knight were named to the second team.
UNC Greensboro forward Thomas Campbell scored 10 goals overall and a SoCon-best eight during conference matches to earn first-team honors. He was joined by teammates Jokull Elisabetarson, a midfielder, and D.J. McCurry, a defender on the first team and David Worthen on the second team. A senior, Worthen joins Furman’s Leathers as a four-time all-conference selection, each with three first-team and one second-team selection.
Leathers joined midfielders Patrick Murray and Shea Salinas as Furman’s first-team all-conference honorees. Three Paladins also were named to the second team, including Cekic, Eliot Paschalis and goalkeeper Bryan Amos.
Appalachian State had three players selected to the second team. Forward Sean Sassano and midfielders McCoy Livingston and Juan Obregon were the Mountaineers’ representatives.
Georgia Southern freshman Luigi Clendening and Davidson defender Robby Hoak were also second-team selections.
All-Conference
First Team
F Kareem Yearwood, College of Charleston
F Brett Paschall, Elon
F Thomas Campbell, UNC Greensboro
MF Justin Wyatt, Elon
MF Patrick Murray, Furman
MF Shea Salinas, Furman
MF Jokull Elisabetarson, UNC Greensboro
D Jon Leathers, Furman
D Steven Kinney, Elon
D D.J. McCurry, UNC Greensboro
GK Corbin Waller, College of Charleston
Second Team
F Sean Sassano, Appalachian State
F Haris Cekic, Furman
F Luigi Clendening, Georgia Southern
MF McCoy Livingston, Appalachian State
MF Juan Obregon, Appalachian State
MF Justin Fojo, College of Charleston
MF Eliot Paschalis, Furman
D Wes Knight, College of Charleston
D Robby Hoak, Davidson
D David Worthen, UNC Greensboro
GK Bryan Amos, Furman
GK Clint Irwin, Elon
Player of the Year: Jon Leathers, Furman
Freshman of the Year: Haris Cekic, Furman
Coach of the Year: Doug Allison, Furman