University of Connecticut Athletics
Six Huskies Recognized For Conference Honors
11/9/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The American Athletic Conference announced on Wednesday the men's soccer regular season awards and All-Conference members.
The Huskies placed four players on the All-Conference teams, two rookies on the All-Rookie team and won the Team Fair Play Award, determined by a points system based on fouls and cards accumulated in conference play.
Sophomore forward Abdou Mbacke Thiam (Dakar, Senegal), co-captains Kwame Awuah (Toronto, Ont.), and Jake Nerwinski (Lawrenceville, N.J.) were honored as First Team All-Conference members.
Thiam leads the Huskies with 10 goals on the year, currently tied for second in The American. Thiam also has logged 24 points, third most in the conference. The Huskies are 8-0-0 when Thiam scores in a game this season.
Awuah and Nerwinski both received first team honors for the second-straight year. The midfielder, Awuah, scored two goals and compiled seven assists, his seven helpers are second best in The American.
Nerwinski contributed two goals and four assists for the Huskies and aided the UConn defense in registering eight shutouts to this point in the season.
Sophomore defender Simen Olafsen, coming off his Defender of the Week honor, was selected for the All-Conference second team. Olafsen scored his second goal of the year against SMU last Saturday and has been instrumental in helping the Huskies post eight clean sheets.
A pair of UConn freshmen made the All-Rookie team, midfielders Munir Saleh (Kitchner, Ont.) and Niko Petridis (Norwalk, Conn.). Saleh has started the past few games and played in all 18 games for the Huskies. He recorded his first career assist against UCF on Oct. 22. Petridis has been a steady presence off the bench, playing in 17 games and chipping in one goal and two assists for UConn.
UConn was also honored with a team award, the Team Fair Play Award. This award is given to the team that accumulates the least amount of points in conference play, committing a foul is one point. Being given a yellow card, is equal to five points and being issued a red card racks up 10 points for your team. The Huskies totaled 108 points.
UConn heads to Tampa, Fla. this weekend for The American Championship at Corbett Soccer Stadium. The Huskies take on Tulsa at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 11. The game can be viewed on The American Digital Network.
The 2016 all-conference teams and a complete list of awards are listed below.
2016 American Men's Soccer Awards
Offensive Player of the Year
Matias Pyysalo, UCF
Defensive Player of the Year
Prosper Figbe, USF
Midfielder of the Year
Adam Wilson, Cincinnati
Goalkeeper of the Year
Spasoje Stefanovic, USF
Rookie of the Year
Garrett McLaughlin, SMU
Coaching Staff of the Year
USF
Team Fair Play Award
UConn
First Team All-Conference
Matias Pyysalo, M, Jr., UCF
Adam Wilson, M, So., Cincinnati
*Kwame Awuah, M, Sr., UConn
*Abdou Mbacke Thiam, F, So., UConn
Jake Nerwinski, B, Sr., UConn
Nazeem Bartman, F, Sr., USF
Prosper Figbe, B, So., USF
Lindo Mfeka, M, Sr., USF
Spasoje Stefanovic, GK, Sr., USF
*Jorge Gomez Sanchez, F, Sr., Temple
Carlos Moros Gracia, B, Sr., Temple
Second Team All-Conference
Patrick Nielsen, B, Fr., Cincinnati
Simen Olafsen, B, So., UConn
Raul Gonzalez, M, Sr., Memphis
Joonas Jokinen, F, Jr., Temple
Melvin Becket, F, Sr., USF
Jordan Cano, B, Jr., SMU
Mauro Cichero, M, Jr., SMU
Jake McGuire, GK, Sr., Tulsa
Matt Puig, F, Fr., Tulsa
Ray Saari, M, Sr., Tulsa
Zack Stavrou, B, Jr., Tulsa
All-Rookie Team
Brian Jamba, M, UCF
Ryan Melink, M, Cincinnati
Patrick Nielsen, B, Cincinnati
David Sanz, M, Cincinnati
Niko Petridis, M, UConn
Munir Saleh, M, UConn
Jackson Morse, M, Memphis
*Garrett McLaughlin, F, SMU
Albert Moreno, M, Temple
*Alejandro Chavez, B, Tulsa
Matt Puig, F, Tulsa
