SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Southern Conference men’s soccer regular-season champion ETSU had a league-best seven all-conference selections and saw Bo Oshoniyi named Coach of the Year, Jonny Sutherland named Goalkeeper of the Year and defender Joe Pickering tabbed Freshman of the Year in balloting of the league’s six head coaches. Mercer’s Will Bagrou was named the SoCon Player of the Year.
The SoCon’s head coaches voted on a pair of all-conference teams, an all-freshman team and the four individual awards. They were not allowed to vote for themselves or their own players. Because of a tie in the voting, the all-conference first team consists of 12 student-athletes, while the second team and all-freshman team consist of 11 members each.
ETSU had four first-team picks and three second-team selections, adding a pair of all-freshman picks. Mercer and Wofford had five all-conference selections each, with the Bears putting four on the first team and the Terriers landing all five on the second team. Furman and UNCG rounded out the all-conference teams with two first-team and one second-team selection each, while Wofford dominated the all-freshman squad with five selections. Mercer had two and Furman and UNCG had one each.
The Bears’ Bagrou is tied for second in the league in scoring with 20 points and is third with eight goals scored. He is tied for ninth in assists with four. The junior forward from Dacula, Georgia, has helped Mercer to a 12-6-0 record on the year so far, including a 7-3-0 SoCon mark. The Bears, who battled for the league title until the final day of the regular season, claimed the No. 2 seed in the SoCon Men’s Soccer Championship and earned a bye into the semifinals, where they will face No. 3 seed Wofford on Thursday.
Bagrou, the 2014 SoCon Freshman of the Year, becomes just the third player in league history to earn both the rookie honor and Player of the Year distinction, joining Furman’s Coleton Henning (FOTY 2008, POTY 2011) and Elon’s Chris Thomas (FOTY 2009, POTY 2010, 2012). Bagrou is the first Mercer player to be named SoCon Player of the Year in the Bears’ three-year tenure in the league.
ETSU’s Sutherland leads the league in goals against average (0.92), save percentage (.778), shutouts (eight) and shutouts per game (0.47) on the season. A two-time SoCon player of the week and the league’s player of the month for September, Sutherland earned five shutouts in league play, blanking four of the other five league teams. The sophomore from Chester, United Kingdom, has turned in a 10-4-2 record so far on the year and earned first-team all-conference honors after taking a spot on the second team as a freshman last season. He was the only player in the league this year to earn the maximum number of votes at his position.
The Bucs’ Pickering, who earned a second-team all-conference nod in addition to his spot on the all-freshman team, started all 17 matches this year. In addition to helping ETSU to eight shutouts so far this season, the East Sussex, England, native has scored three goals, including the game-winner in a 1-0 win over UNCG on Oct. 25.
Oshoniyi was named the SoCon Coach of the Year for the first time in his career after leading the Bucs to their first league title. The third-year head coach led has led his squad to an 11-4-2 mark so far this season, which includes a 7-1-2 SoCon record. Oshoniyi directed his team to national relevance this season, as the Bucs downed No. 1 North Carolina on Sept. 13 and played to a draw with No. 25 Furman on Sept. 27. His team also took No. 22 West Virginia and Kentucky, which was unranked at the time but is No. 12 this week, to overtime. Oshoniyi earned the maximum number of votes from his peers in the Coach of the Year balloting.
Joining Sutherland on the all-conference first team are teammates Fletcher Ekern (forward), Serge Gomis (midfielder) and Chase Clack (defender), while forward Joao Ramalho and midfielder Charlie Machell complemented Pickering on the second team. Ekern took first-team honors for the second straight season, while Ramalho’s second-team nod was his second all-conference selection after taking first-team honors and Player of the Year distinction in 2014.
Bagrou was joined on the first team by Mercer teammates Jordan Duru (midfielder), Conner Antley (defender) and Ian Antley (defender). Bagrou and Duru become the first Bears to earn first-team All-SoCon honors three times, while Ian Antley’s all-conference selection was also his third, as he was on the second team in 2014 and the first team in each of the last two years. Keeper Jeremy Booth landed on the second team for the second straight year, while Conner Antley was a second-team pick last year.
Furman forward Lewis Hawke earned his first first-team honor after two seasons on the second team. Defender Kyle McLagan earned first-team honors and midfielder Marco Ortiz earned a spot on the second team.
UNCG’s Damieon Thomas, the SoCon’s leading scorer, backed up last year’s second-team selection with a first-team nod at forward, while Leeroy Maguraushe, last season’s Freshman of the Year, was a first-team pick at midfielder for the second straight season. The Spartans’ Eric Gunnarsson was a second-team pick at defender.
Wofford dominated the second team with five selections, including Lucas Altman (forward), Matthew Aurednik (forward), Connor Donohue (midfielder), Kyle Nelson (defender) and Joe Wichmann (keeper). Aurednik has earned all-conference honors in each of his four seasons, earning first-team distinction in 2014 and second-team honors in 2013, 2015 and this year.
The Terriers were also well-represented on the all-freshman team, as Altman was joined by Dredon Kelly, Sam Ross, Austin Tuggle and Christian Womeldorph. ETSU placed Pickering and Javier Alberto on the squad, while Mercer saw Roberto Arteaga and Jacob Chadwell selected. Furman’s Emery May and UNCG’s Casey Penland round out the team.
ETSU, Mercer, Wofford and UNCG the top four seeds, respectively, have advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Conference Men’s Soccer Championship, which will take place at the UNCG Soccer Stadium in Greensboro, North Carolina, starting Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Both matches will appear live on the SoCon Digital Network. The championship match will take place Saturday at 5 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN3.
2016 Men’s Soccer All-Conference Team
Player of the Year – Will Bagrou, Jr., F, Mercer
Goalkeeper of the Year – Jonny Sutherland, So., ETSU
Coach of the Year – Bo Oshoniyi, ETSU
Freshman of the Year – Joe Pickering, D, ETSU
First Team
F Fletcher Ekern, ETSU
F Lewis Hawke, Furman
F Will Bagrou, Mercer
F Damieon Thomas, UNCG
MF Serge Gomis, ETSU
MF Leeroy Maguraushe, UNCG
MF Jordan Duru, Mercer
D Chase Clack, ETSU
D Kyle McLagan, Furman
D Ian Antley, Mercer
D Conner Antley, Mercer
GK Jonny Sutherland, ETSU
Second Team
F Joao Ramalho, ETSU
F Lucas Altman, Wofford
F Matthew Aurednik, Wofford
MF Charlie Machell, ETSU
MF Marco Ortiz, Furman
MF Connor Donohue, Wofford
D Joe Pickering, ETSU
D Eric Gunnarsson, UNCG
D Kyle Nelson, Wofford
GK Jeremy Booth, Mercer
GK Joe Wichmann, Wofford
All-Freshman Team
Javier Alberto, ETSU
Joe Pickering, ETSU
Emery May, Furman
Roberto Arteaga, Mercer
Jacob Chadwell, Mercer
Casey Penland, UNCG
Lucas Altman, Wofford
Dredon Kelly, Wofford
Sam Ross, Wofford
Austin Tuggle, Wofford
Christian Womeldorph, Wofford
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