ROCK HILL, S.C. --- Tusculum College forward Jonathan Spicher has been named a co-recipient of the 2016 South Atlantic Conference Men's Soccer Scholar Athlete of the Year Award announced league officials on Tuesday. Sharing this year's award with Spicher is Corey Brown of the Queens University of Charlotte.
The SAC Scholar Athlete of the Year Award is presented annually to a student-athlete in each of the conference's 18 championship sports and is selected by the leagues faculty athletic representatives.
Spicher, a senior from Cologne, Germany, becomes only the third Pioneer in program history earn this honor, joining defender Scott Hanger (2001) and goalkeeper Andy Goellner (2012).
Spicher has a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade point average while majoring in accounting and earlier this month, was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team for a second consecutive year.
He earned the inaugural SAC Men's Soccer Elite 18 Award as he posted the highest GPA at the final site of the 2016 SAC Men's Soccer Championship. Spicher has been a member of the SAC Commissioner's Honor Roll in each of the past three years, while earning Tusculum President's List honors during the past three years as well. A two-time Tusculum Student-Athlete Academic Achievement Award honoree, Spicher posted Tusculum's top freshman GPA to earn the Tusculum Freshman of the Year Academic Award during his rookie season.
"Jonathan is an outstanding young man and has been the model student-athlete since his arrival at Tusculum," said Tusculum head men's soccer coach Allen Vital. "He has been an outstanding team player and has been a tremendous part of our program's success, not only this year, but during his Pioneer career. He emulates all of the qualities that exemplify a scholar athlete and is a true ambassador for the sport, Tusculum College and the South Atlantic Conference."
On the soccer pitcher, Spicher played in 13 matches and scored one goal, but it was an important one as he netted the tying goal with 59 seconds left in regulation as the Pioneers upset sixth-ranked and defending NCAA II national champion Pfeiffer 3-2 in overtime.
In 62 career matches (40 starts), Spicher posted 15 goals and four assists for 34 points, with five of his goals being match-winners.
Spicher has been a mainstay in the community and on campus as he has been a part of a number of philanthropic organizations. He is a member of the Tusculum College President's Society where he serves as an ambassador for the College in giving campus tours and assisting with alumni events. He is currently serving with Knoxville Pays It Forward as an accounting assistant with small businesses in the Knoxville area. A two-year member of the Pioneer Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, he helped the group lead the league with over $3,500 dollars raised for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Tusculum finished the season with a 16-4 record to earn the program a No. 24 national ranking to end the year. TC finished second in the SAC standings with an 8-3 conference worksheet. The Pioneers went 3-0 in the SAC postseason, including a pair of double-overtime wins to claim TC's league-record sixth SAC Tournament title. The Pioneers also earned the program its fifth NCAA Division II Tournament berth.
