SPARTANBURG, S.C. – UNCG claimed four individual awards following the 2021 Southern Conference men’s soccer campaign, with sophomore forward Theo Collomb named this year’s Player of the Year, Niclas Wild tabbed Goalkeeper of the Year, and freshman midfielder JC Ngando receiving Freshman of the Year honors. UNCG’s Chris Rich and Belmont’s David Costa shared the SoCon Coach of the Year honor due to a tie in the voting.
 
The league’s seven coaches also named two all-conference teams and an all-freshman squad. This season’s all-conference first team, all-conference second team, and all-freshman team each includes 11 student-athletes. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players or themselves.
 
UNCG tallied a conference-leading 15 total players who earned postseason recognition, including a conference-best six players on the all-conference first team. Belmont featured six total selections, while Wofford had five. Mercer, ETSU, and Furman each had three student-athletes represented.

Collomb, a first-team all-conference selection, helped lead UNCG to a 5-1-0 conference record as the Spartans finished the regular season as the No. 1 seed in the SoCon Championship. The Clermont, France, native leads the nation with 15 goals and 35 points and is ranked second nationally in goals per game (0.94) and points per game (2.19). Collomb was named the SoCon Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 28 and also earned the league’s offensive player of the month honor for September. Following his impressive performance in UNCG’s 3-1 win over No. 2 Clemson on Sept. 21 and the Spartans’ 7-0 win over VMI on Sept. 25, Collomb earned the United Soccer Coaches National Player of the Week, College Soccer News National Player of the Week, and TopDrawer Soccer National Player of the Week.
 
Wild claims the Goalkeeper of the Year honors, ranking the lowest in the conference in goals against average (0.73), and ranking third in save percentage (0.75). He ranked first in shutouts, with the sophomore goalkeeper tallying nine following UNCG’s 2-0 conference win over ETSU on Oct. 30. The Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Sachsen, Germany, native ranked third in saves, with 36, and has only allowed 12 goals on the season. Wild was named the SoCon Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 26, following his performance against Wofford on Oct. 23 where he earned his eighth clean sheet of the season. The sophomore goalkeeper also added a first-team all-conference selection to his Goalkeeper of the Year honors.
 
Ngando, who is also an all-freshman and All-SoCon first-team selection, recorded 18 points on five goals and eight assists with two game-winning goals. He earned offensive player of the week honors on Oct. 26 after tallying one assist in the Spartans’ 7-1 nonconference win over USC Upstate on Oct. 19 before recording three in UNCG’s 3-0 win over the Terriers on Oct. 23. The freshman from Paris, France, is the first Spartan to earn freshman of the year honors since Nelson Oceano in 2017.

UNCG’s Rich clinched a share of the league’s coach of the year award for the first time after the Spartans earned their eighth SoCon regular-season title. Rich led UNCG to a 13-3-1 overall record, 5-1-0 conference record, and helped the Spartans earn three appearances on the top-25 national weekly rankings. UNCG’s 13 victories marks the most wins in a single season since the 2006 squad won 16 matches. Belmont’s Costa also claimed his first coach of the year honor, as the third-year head coach led the Bruins to a 11-4-1 overall record and a 4-2-0 conference record.

Spartan defenders Emmanuel Hagan, Marco Milanese, and Joey Skinner join Collomb, Wild, and Ngando to represent UNCG on the all-conference first team. Skinner led the defenders in goals (four), points (15), assists (seven) and game-winning goals (two), while Hagan earned SoCon Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 28 followed by Milanese, who secured SoCon Defensive Player of the Week honors the following week on Oct. 5.
 
Midfielder Jack Birch and Daniel Mangarov helped spark the Spartans’ offense this season, as the freshman and sophomore both earned spots on second team following the conclusion of the regular season. Birch recorded one goal and tallied one assist, while Mangarov netted four goals, added three assists, and scored two-game winning goals. Basile Marc was the final Spartan player to earn team honors, with the Villeubanne, France, native clinching a spot on the all-freshman team after concluding the 2021 regular season with one goal and two assists.
 
Belmont had one player earn a spot on first team, and five receive spots on the second team. Niccolo Dagnoni was the solo Bruin to earn a spot on first team, as the freshman midfielder tallied five goals and eight assists for 18 points this season. The native of Milan, Italy, also clinched SoCon Offensive Player of the Week honors on Sept. 7 following an assist in Belmont’s 1-0 nonconference win over UNC Asheville on Sept. 2 and an assist in the Bruins’ 1-0 nonconference win over SIUE on Sept. 6. The five players selected to the all-conference second team were AJ Chastonay (forward), Liam O’Brien (forward), John Bannec (defender), Jack Shaw (defender) and Case Cox (defender).
 
Chastonay scored 12 points on six goals, including six game-winners this season, while O’Brien recorded 18 points on eight goals, including two-game winners. Defenders Shaw and Cox recorded the most assists of the SoCon defenders, with the senior and sophomore defenders both tallying five. Cox also added 11 points on three goals for the 2021 season. For the second straight season, the Belmont University men's soccer team will begin postseason play as the No. 4 seed in the Southern Conference Men's Soccer tournament.
 
Wofford had five selections this season, with defender Mitchell Myers securing a place on the first team, forward Brandon Oddy earning a spot on the second team, and Magnus Kjoller (midfielder), Amin Mohammedi (defender), Nic Parker (midfielder), and Chistoffer Saitz (defender) all clinching spots on the all-freshman team. Myers added 11 points on two goals and seven assists and Oddy notched 16 points on eight goals for the Terriers this season.
 
Ousman Jabang was the lone first-team selection for Mercer after recording 14 points on four goals and six assists, as well as one game-winning goal. Midfielder Dylan Gaither and forward Kadeem Agard represent the Bears on the second team and all-freshman team, respectively. Gaither led the midfielders with 19 points and notched eight goals and three assists this season, while Agard tallied 13 points on five goals and three assists, including a game winner in the Bears’ first conference win of season on Sept. 18 against Furman.

Furman had three selections this season, with forward Jake Raine securing a place on the first team, midfielder Miles Fenton earning a spot on second-team, and Ivan Agyaakway clinching a spot on all-freshman team. Raine added 25 points on 11 goals and three assists, while Fenton added six points on one goal and four assists for the Paladins this season.

ETSU forward Tarik Pannholzer and Buccaneer goalkeeper Josh Perryman were both selected to SoCon teams this season, with Pannholzer being named first-team all-conference and Perryman earning second-team honors. Pannholzer, a sophomore from Flensburg, Germany, is third in the SoCon in points scored, with 22, after netting 10 goals and two assists, including two game-winners. Perryman ranks third in the SoCon in saves (50) and fourth in save percentage (.676). Rayhan Carlson-Du Toit rounded out the Buccaneers selected to all-conference teams, with the freshman earning a spot on the all-freshman team after concluding the season with six points on two goals and two assists, including one game-winner.
 
No. 3 seed Furman will play No. 6 seed Wofford in the SoCon Men’s Soccer Championship quarterfinals on Friday, Nov. 5, at 7 p.m. in Macon, Georgia, while No. 4 seed Belmont and No. 5 seed ETSU play the same day at 6 p.m. in Greensboro, North Carolina. No. 1 seed UNCG will play the winner of No. 4 Seed Belmont and No. 5 seed ETSU and No. 2 seed Mercer will play the winner of No. 3 seed Furman and No. 6 seed Wofford. The semifinal matches will take place on Sunday, Nov. 7, with UNCG scheduled to host at 6 p.m. and the match at Mercer scheduled at 2 p.m.
 
The championship match will take place Saturday, Nov. 13, or Sunday, Nov. 14, at the highest remaining seed. The tournament winner earns the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship.
 
2021 Men’s Soccer All-Conference Team 
Player of the Year – Theo Collomb, So., F, UNCG 
Goalkeeper of the Year – Niclas Wild, So., UNCG 
Coaches of the Year – David Costa, Belmont / Chris Rich, UNCG 
Freshman of the Year – JC Ngando, MF, UNCG 

First Team 
F Tarik Pannholzer, ETSU 
F Theo Collomb, UNCG 
F Jake Raine, Furman
MF Niccolo Dagnoni, Belmont 
MF Ousman Jabang, Mercer 
MF JC Ngando, UNCG
D Emmanuel Hagan, UNCG 
D Marco Milanese, UNCG 
D Joey Skinner, UNCG 
D Mitchell Myers, Wofford
GK Niclas Wild, UNCG 

Second Team 
F AJ Chastonay, Belmont
F Liam O’Brien, Belmont 
F Brandon Oddy, Wofford 
MF Miles Fenton, Furman
MF Dylan Gaither, Mercer 
MF Jack Birch, UNCG 
MF Daniel Mangarov, UNCG 
D John Bannec, Belmont
D Case Cox, Belmont
D Jack Shaw, Belmont 
GK Josh Perryman, ETSU

All-Freshman Team 
Rayhan Carlson-Du Toit, F, ETSU 
Ivan Agyaakwah, MF, Furman
Kadeem Agard, F, Mercer
Jack Birch, MF, UNCG 
Basile Marc, MF, UNCG
JC Ngando, MF, UNCG
Joey Skinner, D, UNCG
Magnus Kjoller, MF, Wofford
Amin Mohammedi, D, Wofford
Nic Parker, MF, Wofford
Christoffer Saietz, D, Wofford