OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – College
of Charleston’s Shawn Ferguson, Davidson’s Brian McGue and UNCG’s Peyton Ford were
named three of 30 national candidates for the 2012 Senior CLASS Award in
collegiate men’s soccer. The Southern Conference was one of just three
nationally with three selections, joining the Atlantic Coast Conference and the
Big East Conference atop that list.
To be eligible for
the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior
and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community,
classroom, character and competition.
An acronym for
Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School ®, the Senior CLASS
Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their
platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their
communities.
Ferguson, a defender
from Rock Hill, S.C., has been a rock at central defense for the Cougars. He
has started every match since he’s been at CofC and hasn’t missed a minute on
the field since his freshman season.
Ferguson has scored
four career goals and registered three assists despite being a pure defender.
He was an All-Southern Conference First Team selection in 2011 and an
all-freshman selection in 2009.
The Cougars’ Sarah
Shaidle earned a spot on the women’s list, making CofC one of just three
programs in the country to place student-athletes on both lists, along with
soccer national powers North Carolina and Duke.
Schaidle and Ferguson were both among the student-athletes nominated who maintain a better-than 3.5 grade point average, and both do so in the ever-challenging fields of biology and chemistry.
McGue, a midfielder
from Dublin, Ohio, is a two-time Academic All-Southern Conference performer and
earned First Team All-SoCon honors last season, when he led Davidson in
scoring. After drawing starts in the majority of matches played as a freshman
and earning SoCon All-Freshman Team honors, McGue has started each and every
game the past two seasons. He is a team captain.
McGue has also been
active in the community while at Davidson, coaching children from ages 4-12 in
soccer clinics throughout the year since his freshman season, coordinating the
Davidson men’s soccer team’s participation in a 5K fundraiser for a local
daycare in 2010, serving as an auction assistant to raise money for people
living with Traumatic Brain Injury the past two years, and serving as a graphic
designer for the Davidson Athletic Foundation this summer.
Ford, goalkeeper from
a Jamestown, N.C., owns a 3.76 cumulative GPA in political science and was
named to the Academic All-Southern Conference Team and SoCon Academic Honor
Roll and was a recipient of the SoCon Commissioner’s medal last year.
Additionally, he was awarded the SoCon Postgraduate scholarship last year and
was named to the prestigious Gold Chain Honor Society at UNCG. The Gold Chain
Honor Society symbolizes the qualities that have always been prerequisite for
election to membership: leadership, scholarship, service, tolerance, judgment,
magnanimity and character.
Ford has been a
four-year starter for the Spartans, playing a total of 61 games in his career
with 18 shutouts. He earned Second Team All-SoCon honors last year and was
named to the NCCSIA All-State team. He posted an 0.70 goals against average
last year with nine shutouts, including a streak of 743:56 minutes of scoreless
soccer. This season, he was a preseason All-SoCon honoree and has started all
seven games for the Spartans.
Each of the 30
candidate classes will be narrowed to 10 finalists midway through the regular
season, and those 10 names will be placed on the official ballot. Ballots will
be distributed through a nationwide voting system to media, coaches and fans,
who will select one male candidate and one female candidate who best exemplify
excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character and competition.
For more information
on all the candidates, visit seniorCLASSaward.com.
Men’s
Soccer 2012 Candidates
Name Position School
Carlos Alvarez Midfield Connecticut
James Belshaw Goalkeeper Duke
Ashton Bennett Forward Coastal Carolina
Steven Birnbaum Defender California, Berkeley
Scott Caldwell Midfield Akron
Machael David Midfielder UC Santa Barbara
Johnny Dreshaj Midfielder/Forward Oakland
Shawn
Ferguson Defender College of Charleston
Peyton
Ford Goalkeeper UNCG
Scott Goodwin Goalkeeper North Carolina
Anthony Hobbs Defense Florida International
Ryan Hollingshead Midfielder/Forward UCLA
Deion Jones Defender Florida Gulf Coast
Taylor Kemp Defender Maryland
Ryan McDuff Defender Brown
Brian
McGue Midfield Davidson
Peter McKeown Goalkeeper Loyola, Chicago
Luis Ocejo Defense Stetson
Cameron Omsberg Defender Lehigh
Jannis Opalka Back Siena
Liam Paddock Back Maryland-Baltimore County
Everett Pitts Defender UC Irvine
Dillon Powers Midfielder Notre Dame
Eric Schoenle Defender West Virginia
Yannick Smith Forward Old Dominion
Blake Smith Foward/Midfielder New Mexico
Donnie Smith Forward Charlotte
Bobby Thalman Goalkeeper Yale
Grant Van De Casteele
Defense Notre Dame
Kyle Zobeck Goalkeeper Valparaiso