Thomas, Maullin and Craven Earn Individual Awards
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Fresh off of claiming a share of the Southern Conference regular season championship under the guidance of interim head coach Justin Maullin, UNCG led the way with five all-conference and four all-freshman team members in a vote of the league's men's soccer head coaches.
Elon sophomore forward Chris Thomas picked up Player of the Year honors after tying for the conference lead in goals this season with 10. Three of the striker's goals on the year were game-winners, and he had a five-match stretch in September in which he scored a goal in each match.
College of Charleston's Andy Craven was named Freshman of the Year, becoming the first Cougar to ever take home the league's top rookie honor. Craven was third on the team with three goals while adding an assist for Charleston, which shared the SoCon championship with UNCG and Furman.
Maullin was also honored by his peers as the league's Coach of the Year after leading UNCG to its sixth SoCon regular season championship after being predicted to finish sixth in the preseason. The Spartans are in the midst of a nine-match unbeaten streak (6-0-3) after dropping their SoCon opener in early October.
Elon placed the most players on the all-conference first team with four honorees. Thomas, a first-team selection at forward, was joined by teammates Brad Franks (midfielder), Austen King (defender) and Clint Irwin (goalkeeper).
UNCG boasted a pair of first-team selections in forward Hakan Ilhan, the SoCon's points leader in 2010 with 27, and defender Kris Byrd.
College of Charleston's Sean de Silva was chosen as a first-team midfielder while the Cougars' Sean Flatley collected the highest point total possible at defender, receiving the top nod on each coach's ballot.
Also receiving first-team honors were Appalachian State forward Sean Dreybus, Davidson midfielder Alex Caskey and Furman forward Fabien Vorbe.
Georgia Southern's Jon Cox and Wofford's Wilson Hood were chosen as members of the all-conference second team as forwards where they were joined by UNCG freshman Brian Graham.
The second team midfielders were Steven Sassano (Appalachian State), Dane Roberts (Furman) and Fannar Arnarsson (UNCG).
Rounding out the second team were defenders Lee Williams of Appalachian State, Greg Macnamara of Davidson and Aaron Reifschneider of UNCG along with a pair of goalkeepers in College of Charleston's Kees Heemskerk and Furman's Alec Kann.
In addition to the all-conference teams, the coaches also selected an 11-player all-freshman team. Arnarsson, Graham and Reifschneider were joined by teammate Adam Shore to give UNCG four honorees. College of Charleston (Craven and Heemskerk), Elon (Nick Butterly and Daniel Lovitz) and Furman (Jacob Brown and Michael Gandier) each had a pair of players named to the rookie squad along with Hunter Norton of Georgia Southern.
Coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players or for themselves in the balloting.
The 2010 men's soccer season reaches its climax this weekend as UNCG, Furman, Appalachian State and Davidson descend on Mt. Pleasant, S.C. for the semifinals and final of the 2010 Southern Conference Men's Soccer Championship. The semifinals will be at 5 and 7:30 p.m. Friday with the championship match Sunday at 1 p.m. from the Patriots Point Athletics Complex.
2010 SoCon Men's Soccer All-Conference Team
Player of the Year - Chris Thomas, So., F, Elon
Coach of the Year - Justin Maullin, UNCG
Freshman of the Year - Andy Craven, F, College of Charleston
First Team
F Sean Dreybus, Appalachian State
F Chris Thomas, Elon
F Fabien Vorbe, Furman
F Hakan Ilhan, UNCG
MF Sean de Silva, College of Charleston
MF Alex Caskey, Davidson
MF Brad Franks, Elon
D Sean Flatley, College of Charleston
D Austen King, Elon
D Kris Byrd, UNCG
GK Clint Irwin, Elon
Second Team
F Jon Cox, Georgia Southern
F Brian Graham, UNCG
F Wilson Hood, Wofford
MF Steven Sassano, Appalachian State
MF Dane Roberts, Furman
MF Fannar Arnarsson, UNCG
D Lee Williams, Appalachian State
D Greg Macnamara, Davidson
D Aaron Reifschneider, UNCG
GK Kees Heemskerk, College of Charleston
GK Alec Kann, Furman
All-Freshman Team
Andy Craven, F, College of Charleston
Kees Heemskerk, GK, College of Charleston
Nick Butterly, D, Elon
Daniel Lovitz, MF, Elon
Jacob Brown, D, Furman
Michael Gandier, MF, Furman
Hunter Norton, MF, Georgia Southern
Fannar Arnarrson, MF, UNCG
Brian Graham, F, UNCG
Aaron Reifschneider, D, UNCG
Adam Shore, F, UNCG