ROCK HILL, S.C. --- Five members of the Tusculum University men's soccer team have been named to the 2018 All-South Atlantic Conference teams, the league office announced Thursday.
Earning second-team honors were senior forward Ayuk Tambe, junior midfielder Fabian Proesch and junior defender Georgios Charkoutsakis. Honorable mention went to sophomore midfielder Edgar Cervantes and freshman defender Mathias Grimstad after the Pioneers finished the regular season with a 9-6-1 record and in third place in the SAC with a 6-3-1 league mark.
Tambe shared the team lead in both goals (six) and assists (three) during the regular season, finishing with a team-high 15 points. The Yaounde, Cameroon native scored five goals in the Pioneers' 10 conference matches, including game-winners in back-to-back wins over Carson-Newman and Newberry as part of a stretch of three consecutive games with a goal.
Tambe, who scored twice in the Pioneers' 3-1 win over Wingate in the SAC Championship quarterfinals on Tuesday, has 11 goals and three assists for 25 points in 29 career matches, with three game-winning goals.
Proesch started 14 matches for the Pioneers and had a goal and two assists for four points during the regular season. Proesch's goal came in a 4-0 win over Catawba on Sept. 29, and he assisted on both goals in a loss to Queens on Sept. 12. The Toensberg, Norway native had an assist in the Pioneers' SAC quarterfinal win over Wingate.
In three seasons at Tusculum, Proesch has two goals and four assists for eight points in 48 matches, including 39 starts.
Charkoutsakis was named All-SAC for the second time in his career, having also earned second-team All-Conference recognition in 2016. The Heraklion, Greece native played all 1,462 minutes for the Pioneers during the regular season, and was the anchor of a defense that did not allow more than six shots on goal in any match during conference play and conceded a total of seven goals in 10 league contests.
On offense, Charkoutsakis had a goal in the regular-season finale at Coker on Oct. 27, and assisted on a goal in a 2-0 win over Newberry on Oct. 6. In three seasons with the Pioneers, Charkoutsakis has four goals and four assists for 12 points in 48 matches.
Cervantes was named honorable mention All-SAC for the second year in a row after starting the final 11 regular-season matches in the midfield for the Pioneers. The Cancun, Mexico product had one assist during the season, and has three goals and two assists for eight points in 31 career matches.
Grimstad started 15 of the Pioneers' 16 regular-season matches and teamed with Charkoutsakis to form a solid central defense. Grimstad played every minute in 10 of his 15 matches, and the team went 7-0-1 in his final eight starts of the season. The native of Hareid, Norway also had an assist in the Pioneers' 4-0 win over Catawba on Sept. 29.
Tusculum earned a pair of statistical championships from the conference, as junior Alejandro Quiriti finished with a league-best eight shutouts to give the Pioneers the team shutout high in the conference.
Edmundo Robinson of Queens was named the league's Offensive Player of the Year, while Defensive Player of the Year honors went to Marcos Enriquez of Lenoir-Rhyne. Carles Montoliu Lobo of Lenoir-Rhyne was selected Freshman of the Year, and Coach of the Year went to Jack Winter of Lenoir-Rhyne.
Tusculum will play Carson-Newman in the SAC Championship semifinals on Friday at 7 p.m. at Manchester Meadows in Rock Hill, South Carolina. The winner will advance to Sunday's finals against the winner of the other semifinal between Lenoir-Rhyne and Anderson.
2018 South Atlantic Conference Men's Soccer All-Conference
First Team
F – Edmundo Robinson, Queens
F – Victor Peres, Lincoln Memorial
F – Alberto Morales, Queens
F – Tobias SolemKarlsen, Carson-Newman
MF – Felipe De Sousa, Lincoln Memorial
MF – Ignacio De goya, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF – Victor Cascon, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF – Elliot Cutts, Wingate
D – Marcos Enriquez, Lenoir-Rhyne
D – Pedro Oliveira, Queens
D – Alan Brandao, Lincoln Memorial
D – Michael Hornsby, Queens
GK – Pablo Jara, Wingate
Second Team
F – Ayuk Tambe, Tusculum
F– Lars Kaula, Anderson
F – Nate Evans, Wingate
F – Cameron Saul, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF – Liam Doyle, Queens
MF – Carles Montoliu Lobo, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF – Fabian Proesch, Tusculum
MF – Greg Evans, Carson-Newman
D – Georgios Charkoutsakis, Tusculum
D –Jakob Sellhed, Wingate
D – Lucas Mostajo, Anderson
D – Ryan Tyrer, Anderson
GK – Sebastian Kalk, Queens
Honorable Mention
F – Soren Nygaard, Wingate
F – Sebastian Bertilsson, Mars Hill
F – Jacob Simonis, Coker
F – Ibrahim Nadir, Newberry
MF – Jhon Vaca, Anderson
MF – Florian Simon, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF – Edgar Cervantes, Tusculum
MF – Fabrizio Bucco, Newberry
D – Mathias Grimstad, Tusculum
D – Oscar Mitchell, Mars Hill
D – Samuel Jenkins, Carson-Newman
D – Jeppe Christensen, Mars Hill
GK – Caleb Cothrin, Lincoln Memorial
Offensive Player of the Year: Edmundo Robinson, Queens
Defensive Player of the Year: Marcos Enriquez, Lenoir-Rhyne
Freshman of the Year: Carles Montoliu Lobo, Lenoir-Rhyne
Coach of the Year: Jack Winter, Lenoir-Rhyne
Fair Play Award: Queens