No. 2 men's soccer lands 5 AAC season awards
Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2023 3:01 pmFrom SMUMustangs.com:
No. 2 SMU Earns Five Major Conference Awards Going Into AAC Championship Tournament
IRVING, Texas (SMU) — No. 2 SMU walked away with all but two of the major men's soccer honors as awarded by the American Athletic Conference, as chosen by the league coaches.
The AAC outright regular-season champion SMU took home five of the six major awards. Mads Westergren was named Defensive Player of the Year, Bailey Sparks was named Midfielder of the Year, Cole Johnson was named Goalkeeper of the Year, Niv Berkovitz was named Rookie of the Year and the SMU coaching staff earned the coveted Coaching Staff of the Year. SMU also led the league with four first team all-conference selections, which includes Westergren, Sparks, Johnson and forward Jelldrik Dallmann. Sophomore Alex Salvo joined Berkovitz as an all-rookie selection.
Westergren becomes the third Mustang to win American Defensive Player of the Year. SMU previously had Eddie Munjoma win in 2019, along with Jordan Cano in 2017.
Westergren, a Solroed Strand native, anchored the top-ranked defense in conference, with the Mustangs only allowing five goals in conference play. He started in all 15 games played so far, playing a total of 1,324 minutes.
Sparks ranks third in the AAC with five assists and averaged 81.2 minutes while starting all 15 games for the Mustangs. This marks the Mustang's second straight Midfielder of the Year honor — Knut Ahlander, 2022 — and their sixth overall.
The Mustangs added Goalkeeper of the Year, with Johnson. The four-time AAC Goalkeeper of the Week led the American in save percentage (.767), goals-against average (0.68).
The Mustangs enter the AAC Championship Tournament with eight shutouts overall. Seven were from Johnson — a league-high — while the one remaining was a team earned.
Berkovitz, a freshman hailing to the Hilltop from Israel, earned AAC Rookie of the Year. He is SMU's second-leading scorer entering the postseason with five goals — across 12 shots on goal — and an assist for 11 points.
SMU head coach Kevin Hudson and his staff were tabbed American Coaching Staff of the Year, marking the third time that the Mustangs have earned the AAC honor. The Mustangs finished the regular season with an 11-1-2 overall record, a 7-0-1 mark in conference play and were ranked No. 2 nationally in the Nov. 7 United Soccer Coaches poll.
Hudson's coaching staff consists of Associate Head Coach Ben Stoddard, Assistant Coach Michael King and Assistant Coach (Goalkeeping) Zak Downes.
Hudson recently earned his 100th win on Oct. 27, on the road against UAB. He currently holds a 101-39-17 overall record (.697).
Jelldrik Dallmann was one of two players to be a unanimous selection for First-Team All Conference. The graduate forward is SMU's leading scorer with 10 goals. The Kuhstedt, Germany native also has four assists, including two from the Mustangs' most recent 2-1 win over Temple.
Westergren was the lone repeat member as a first team all-conference selection, with Sparks and Johnson also being placed on the first team roster.
Sophomore Alex Salvo, in his first year as a starter, was placed on the American All-Rookie Team, with Berkovitz following suit.
Salvo has scored one goal so far this season — the game winner against Memphis in which the Mustangs won 2-1.
Next up for SMU, the Mustangs enter the AAC Championship Tournament as the No. 1 seed and will host No. 4 seed Memphis in the semifinals on Thursday at 7 p.m., with the game available for streaming on ESPN+.
2023 American Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Awards
Offensive Player of the Year
Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos, Jr., F, Memphis
Defensive Player of the Year
Mads Westergren, Jr., SMU
Midfielder of the Year
Bailey Sparks, Jr., SMU
Goalkeeper of the Year
Cole Johnson, Sr., SMU
Rookie of the Year
Niv Berkovitz, M, SMU
Coaching Staff of the Year
SMU
Head Coach Kevin Hudson, Associate Head Coach Ben Stoddard, Assistant Coach Michael King, Assistant Coach/Goalkeeper Coach Zak Downes
Team Fair Play Award
Memphis Tigers
First Team All-Conference
Jono Nyandjo, Sr., M, Charlotte
Riyon Tori, Jr., M, Charlotte
Tom Abrahamsson, Gr., D, Florida Atlantic
Eduardo Mustre, Jr., F, FIU
Jackson Kim, Sr., D, Memphis
Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos, Jr., F, Memphis*
Ajmeer Spengler, Sr., M, South Florida
Jalen Anderson, Gr., ST, South Florida
Jelldrik Dallmann, Gr., F, SMU*
Cole Johnson, Sr., GK, SMU
Bailey Sparks, Jr., M, SMU
Mads Westergren, Jr., D, SMU
*denotes unanimous selection
Second Team All-Conference
Brigham Larsen, Jr., F, Charlotte
Ian Pilcher, Jr., D, Charlotte
Victor Claudel, Gr., M, Florida Atlantic
Joao Domingues, So., D, FIU
Bernardo Dos Santos Monteiro, Jr., F, FIU
Owen Travis, Jr., D, FIU
Elie Bokota, Jr., M, Memphis
JD Gunn, Gr., GK, Memphis
Felix Ewald, So., F, Temple
Juan Zepeda, Fr., F, Temple
Sergio Baena, Sr., M, Tulsa
All-Rookie Team
Isaac Calderon, M, UAB
Humphrey, Doh, F, UAB
Natsuki Ogata, F, Charlotte*
Oliver Moller-Jensen, M, Florida Atlantic*
Giorgos Kondylis, M, Memphis*
Dino Starvros, D, Memphis*
Pedro Faife, M, South Florida*
Niv Berkovitz, M, SMU
Alex Salvo, M, SMU*
Juan Zepeda, F, Temple
Jared Aguilar, M, Tulsa*
No. 2 SMU Earns Five Major Conference Awards Going Into AAC Championship Tournament
IRVING, Texas (SMU) — No. 2 SMU walked away with all but two of the major men's soccer honors as awarded by the American Athletic Conference, as chosen by the league coaches.
The AAC outright regular-season champion SMU took home five of the six major awards. Mads Westergren was named Defensive Player of the Year, Bailey Sparks was named Midfielder of the Year, Cole Johnson was named Goalkeeper of the Year, Niv Berkovitz was named Rookie of the Year and the SMU coaching staff earned the coveted Coaching Staff of the Year. SMU also led the league with four first team all-conference selections, which includes Westergren, Sparks, Johnson and forward Jelldrik Dallmann. Sophomore Alex Salvo joined Berkovitz as an all-rookie selection.
Westergren becomes the third Mustang to win American Defensive Player of the Year. SMU previously had Eddie Munjoma win in 2019, along with Jordan Cano in 2017.
Westergren, a Solroed Strand native, anchored the top-ranked defense in conference, with the Mustangs only allowing five goals in conference play. He started in all 15 games played so far, playing a total of 1,324 minutes.
Sparks ranks third in the AAC with five assists and averaged 81.2 minutes while starting all 15 games for the Mustangs. This marks the Mustang's second straight Midfielder of the Year honor — Knut Ahlander, 2022 — and their sixth overall.
The Mustangs added Goalkeeper of the Year, with Johnson. The four-time AAC Goalkeeper of the Week led the American in save percentage (.767), goals-against average (0.68).
The Mustangs enter the AAC Championship Tournament with eight shutouts overall. Seven were from Johnson — a league-high — while the one remaining was a team earned.
Berkovitz, a freshman hailing to the Hilltop from Israel, earned AAC Rookie of the Year. He is SMU's second-leading scorer entering the postseason with five goals — across 12 shots on goal — and an assist for 11 points.
SMU head coach Kevin Hudson and his staff were tabbed American Coaching Staff of the Year, marking the third time that the Mustangs have earned the AAC honor. The Mustangs finished the regular season with an 11-1-2 overall record, a 7-0-1 mark in conference play and were ranked No. 2 nationally in the Nov. 7 United Soccer Coaches poll.
Hudson's coaching staff consists of Associate Head Coach Ben Stoddard, Assistant Coach Michael King and Assistant Coach (Goalkeeping) Zak Downes.
Hudson recently earned his 100th win on Oct. 27, on the road against UAB. He currently holds a 101-39-17 overall record (.697).
Jelldrik Dallmann was one of two players to be a unanimous selection for First-Team All Conference. The graduate forward is SMU's leading scorer with 10 goals. The Kuhstedt, Germany native also has four assists, including two from the Mustangs' most recent 2-1 win over Temple.
Westergren was the lone repeat member as a first team all-conference selection, with Sparks and Johnson also being placed on the first team roster.
Sophomore Alex Salvo, in his first year as a starter, was placed on the American All-Rookie Team, with Berkovitz following suit.
Salvo has scored one goal so far this season — the game winner against Memphis in which the Mustangs won 2-1.
Next up for SMU, the Mustangs enter the AAC Championship Tournament as the No. 1 seed and will host No. 4 seed Memphis in the semifinals on Thursday at 7 p.m., with the game available for streaming on ESPN+.
2023 American Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Awards
Offensive Player of the Year
Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos, Jr., F, Memphis
Defensive Player of the Year
Mads Westergren, Jr., SMU
Midfielder of the Year
Bailey Sparks, Jr., SMU
Goalkeeper of the Year
Cole Johnson, Sr., SMU
Rookie of the Year
Niv Berkovitz, M, SMU
Coaching Staff of the Year
SMU
Head Coach Kevin Hudson, Associate Head Coach Ben Stoddard, Assistant Coach Michael King, Assistant Coach/Goalkeeper Coach Zak Downes
Team Fair Play Award
Memphis Tigers
First Team All-Conference
Jono Nyandjo, Sr., M, Charlotte
Riyon Tori, Jr., M, Charlotte
Tom Abrahamsson, Gr., D, Florida Atlantic
Eduardo Mustre, Jr., F, FIU
Jackson Kim, Sr., D, Memphis
Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos, Jr., F, Memphis*
Ajmeer Spengler, Sr., M, South Florida
Jalen Anderson, Gr., ST, South Florida
Jelldrik Dallmann, Gr., F, SMU*
Cole Johnson, Sr., GK, SMU
Bailey Sparks, Jr., M, SMU
Mads Westergren, Jr., D, SMU
*denotes unanimous selection
Second Team All-Conference
Brigham Larsen, Jr., F, Charlotte
Ian Pilcher, Jr., D, Charlotte
Victor Claudel, Gr., M, Florida Atlantic
Joao Domingues, So., D, FIU
Bernardo Dos Santos Monteiro, Jr., F, FIU
Owen Travis, Jr., D, FIU
Elie Bokota, Jr., M, Memphis
JD Gunn, Gr., GK, Memphis
Felix Ewald, So., F, Temple
Juan Zepeda, Fr., F, Temple
Sergio Baena, Sr., M, Tulsa
All-Rookie Team
Isaac Calderon, M, UAB
Humphrey, Doh, F, UAB
Natsuki Ogata, F, Charlotte*
Oliver Moller-Jensen, M, Florida Atlantic*
Giorgos Kondylis, M, Memphis*
Dino Starvros, D, Memphis*
Pedro Faife, M, South Florida*
Niv Berkovitz, M, SMU
Alex Salvo, M, SMU*
Juan Zepeda, F, Temple
Jared Aguilar, M, Tulsa*