BUIES CREEK, N.C. – On the eve of the Big South Conference men's soccer tournament, six Campbell University players have been named to the all-conference teams.
Mitchell Cardenas was selected first-team all-conference in voting by league head coaches. Justin Franz and Travis Golden were second-team selections, while Jhuvon Francis and Jonathan Ray earned all-freshman team honors. Ethan Hall was chosen for the Big South men's soccer all-academic team by league sports information contacts.
"It is an honor for these six players to be selected to the 2011 Big South all-conference teams," said second-year head coach Steve Armas. "We are proud of their accomplishments this year and they have all been an integral part of our success. To be recognized by the opposing head coaches says a lot about the respect they have garnered as players in the league. This is a direct reflection of the entire team; none of this is possible for them without their teammates."
Cardenas enters Thursday's Big South quarterfinal against High Point ranked seventh among league scoring leaders with 18 points on six goals and six assists. The junior midfielder from Mexico City, Mexico, who prepped at College Park High School where he was an All-Greater Houston selection, scored five of his goals and assisted on two others in 9 games against league competition.
He scored twice and assisted on CU's other goal in a 3-1 victory over Liberty on Oct. 25. Four days later, Cardenas scored two goals, including the game-winner, in a 3-2 triumph over VMI. As a result, Cardenas was named Big South attacking player of the week for Oct. 25-31 and gained national team of the week honors from CollegeSoccerNews.com.
Cardenas has already established career highs for games started (19), minutes played (1640), goals (6) and points (18). He was also named the offensive MVP and to the all-tournament team at the UNCW adidas Classic in September when he had a hand in three of CU's four goals scored as the Camels defeated Wofford (1-0) and Hartford (3-2) in the event.
Over his 56-match career, Cardenas has accounted for 48 points on 14 goals and 20 assists. He is just two shy of becoming the 30th player in Campbell's 49-year men's soccer history to reach the 50-career point level.
The honor marks the third-straight year that Cardenas has received all-league recognition. He was a first-team Atlantic Sun Conference choice in 2010 after earning A-Sun second-team and all-freshman honors in 2009.
A sophomore from Cedar Park, Texas, Franz scored twice and assisted on two other goals in nine matches against Big South opponents. Overall, he finished the regular season with 8 points on two goals and four assists.
The midfielder scored the game-winning goal Oct. 1 against Gardner-Webb and tallied CU's third strike in a 3-1 victory two weeks later at Winthrop. Franz played in 18 of CU's 19 contests and made 15 starts.
He was an Atlantic Sun all-freshman choice in 2010 and enters Thursday's match with 16 points on 5 goals and 6 assists over 37 career appearances (28 starts).
Golden earned second-team all-league honors after he earned a starting berth in the Camel central defense in mid-Sept. He played every minute (1199) in 13 games from the opening whistle at Loyola (Md.) on Sept. 17 through the final horn Nov. 1 at High Point, including a 1-0 overtime victory over NC State (Oct. 4). He scored in CU's win over Gardner-Webb and tallied both goals in a 3-2 overtime setback on Oct. 8 at Presbyterian.
The sophomore from Austin, Texas missed last Saturday's loss at 10th-ranked Coastal Carolina due to injury, but enters the league tournament after already hitting career highs in games (16), starts (13), minutes (1275), goals (3) and points (6).
Francis produced all 10 of his points on 4 goals and two assists in eight games against Big South foes. The forward from Kingston, Jamaica ranked 6th among Big South leaders in conference regular season games in points and fifth (tied) in goals.
He scored his first career goal Sept. 28 against Radford; then produced his first career assist two days later in a win over Gardner-Webb. Francis scored in three-straight Big South wins over UNC Asheville, Liberty and VMI before he suffered a knee injury in the 22nd minute Nov. 1 at High Point. He did not play in last Saturday's loss at regular season champion Coastal Carolina.
Ray led all Big South players with six assists in league games and had seven overall (tied for 3rd) in 19 contests. The midfielder from Durham, N.C., was named to the all-tournament team in Sept. at the UNCW adidas Classic.
The former US U-14 National Team member, who earned all-state honors last year at Jordan High School, set up goals in league wins this fall over Gardner-Webb, UNCA, Liberty and VMI.
Hall was named to the Big South All-Academic team on the strength of his 3.59 cumulative grade-point average as a sport management major. The sophomore goalkeeper from Raleigh, N.C., has hit career highs in games played (11), starts (10), minutes (972) and saves (37), while producing a 6-3-2 mark in the nets.
Shaun Docking was named Big South coach of the year after guiding Coastal Carolina to a 16-2 overall and 9-0 Big South record and a number-nine national ranking in this week's Soccer America poll. Coastal enters this week's play ranked first nationally in scoring (3.17 goals per game), second in winning percentage (.889) and 21st in goals-against average (0.77).
Coastal forward Ashton Bennett was named the Big South attacking player of the year after leading the country in scoring with 48 points on 21 goals and 6 assists.
Defender Kjartan Sigurdsson of Coastal Carolina was named Big South freshman of the year, while teammate Cyprian Hedrick earned defensive player of the year honors.
Third-seeded Campbell (9-8-2, 5-4-0 Big South) faces sixth-seeded High Point (8-9-2, 4-4-1) in Thursday's 5:00 p.m. Big South quarterfinal at Boiling Springs, N.C. The Panthers ended a 4-game Camel win streak with a 2-0 win last Tuesday at High Point.
Big South Conference
2011 Men's Soccer All-Conference Teams
First Team All-Conference
F – Ashton Bennett, Coastal Carolina
F – Darren Amoo, Liberty
F – Iyiola Awosika, Radford
MF – Mitchell Cardenas, Campbell
MF – Luis Faz, Coastal Carolina
MF – Shawn Sloan, High Point
MF – Phillip Aseweh, Liberty
D – Cyprian Hedrick, Coastal Carolina
D – Pedro Ribeiro, Coastal Carolina
D – Jon Ole Reinhardsen, Gardner-Webb
D – Uriah Bentick, Liberty
GK – Scott Angevine, Coastal Carolina
Tied At-Large – Kjartan Sigurdsson, Coastal Carolina
Tied At-Large - Justin Portillo, Coastal Carolina
Second Team All-Conference
F – Chris Davis, Gardner-Webb
F – Karo Okiomah, High Point
F – Bryan Bartels, UNC Asheville
MF – Justin Franz, Campbell
MF – John Sargent, Gardner-Webb
MF – Adam Sewell, High Point
MF – Luis Grande, Radford
D – Travis Golden, Campbell
D – Jovan Ivanovich, Gardner-Webb
D – Fejiro Okiomah, High Point
D – Alex Isern, Winthrop
GK – Lassi Hurskainen, UNC Asheville
At-Large – Aldo Macias, Radford
All-Freshman
Ricky Garbanzo, Coastal Carolina
Henrick Robstad, Coastal Carolina
Kjartan Sigurdsson, Coastal Carolina
Denzel Clark, Gardner-Webb
Eric Yeager, Gardner-Webb
Josh Pacella, Liberty
Scott Sutarik, Liberty
Jonathan Ray, Campbell
Jhuvon Francis, Campbell
Dario Redondo, Radford
Melo Matutu, Winthrop
Grady Tremble, Winthrop
Attacking Player of the Year
Ashton Bennett, F, Coastal Carolina
Freshman of the Year
Kjartan Sigurdsson, D, Coastal Carolina
Defensive Player of the Year
Cyprian Hedrick, D, Coastal Carolina
Coach of the Year
Shaun Docking, Coastal Carolina
All-Academic Team
Shawn Sloan, High Point
Matt Horn, Winthrop
Bobby Keskey, Presbyterian
Ryan Taylor, Radford
Phillip Aseweh, Liberty
J.J. Morrow, UNC Asheville
Cyprian Hedrick, Coastal Carolina
Ethan Hall, Campbell
Kyle Farmer, VMI
Chris Davis, Gardner-Webb
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Shawn Sloan, High Point
Big South Championship Tournament Pairings
(at Boiling Springs, N.C.)
Thursday, Nov. 10
Game 1: #4 Liberty (9-6-1, 4-4-1) vs. #5 Radford (9-8-1, 4-4-1), 12:00 pm
Game 2: #1 Coastal Carolina (16-2-0, 9-0-0) vs. #8 UNC Asheville (4-11-3, 3-5-1), 2:30 pm
Game 3: #3 Campbell (9-8-2, 5-4-0) vs. #6 High Point (8-9-2, 4-4-1), 5:00 pm
Game 4: #2 Gardner-Webb (8-7-3, 5-3-1) vs. #7 Winthrop (7-11-0, 4-5-0), 7:30 pm
Friday, Nov. 11
Game 5: winner game 1 vs. winner game 2, 4:00 pm
Game 6: winner game 3 vs. winner game 4, 7:00 pm
Sunday, Nov. 13
Game 7: winner game 5 vs. winner game 6, 2:00 pm
