2015 Men's Soccer All-Conference Awards announced

DAYTON, Tenn. - The Appalachian Athletic Conference announced the 2015 Men's Soccer All-Conference Team and awards on Tuesday, and sophomore Jordan Williams of Reinhardt University is the Player of the Year.

Playing in 16 games this season, Williams has compiled 14 goals and seven assists in helping Reinhardt to a 10-7 overall record. The Birmingham, England, native scored two goals in a game a total of four times. Williams' best game came against Milligan College on Oct. 28 when he tallied two goals and dished out two assists in a 9-2 Eagle win.

Others receiving individual honors include: Luke Hitchman of Union College as the Offensive Player of the Year, Marcelo Mercuri of Union as the Defensive Player of the Year, Rafael Mentzingen of Bryan College as the Freshman of the Year, Felipe Nogueira of St. Andrews University as the Sandy Zensen Champions of Character and Drew Courtney of Bryan as the Coach of the Year. In addition, Williams and Mentzingen both earned the Golden Boot award as they scored the most goals in conference play with eight apiece.

Hitchman, a sophomore midfielder from Abergavenny, Wales, led Union in goals (9), assists (8) and points (26) in helping it to a 14-1-4 record. His eight assists rank him third in the conference and 43rd nationally. Twice he scored two goals in a game with his top performance being a two-goal, one-assist night against Bluefield College on Sept. 23.

Mercuri, a junior goalkeeper from Sao Paulo, Brazil, anchored the Union defense and posted a conference-best goals-against average of 0.74. He also led the league in shutouts with six and made 75 saves. His goals-against average ranks 13th in the NAIA. He was named the Defensive Player of the Week three times this season.

Mentzingen, a freshman midfielder from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, tallied 12 goals and three assists for Bryan to rank him second on the team in both categories. He received the Offensive Player of the Week award once this season and scored two goals in a match a total of three times.

Courtney earned Coach of the Year honors after guiding Bryan to an 8-0-1 conference record and the AAC regular-season championship.

Bryan and Union placed a combined nine players on the 14-member All-AAC First Team with Reinhardt landing two. Making the team from Bryan are: Mentzingen, Miles Christian, Charlie Clarke, Joel Glover and Alex Horton. Earning a spot from Union are: Hitchman, Mercuri, Jason Jacobs and Andre Scott. Reinhardt's representatives are Williams and Alan Barikos. Rounding out the first team are Filipe Checco of St. Andrews, Esgardo Arroyo of Montreat College and David Baisden of Tennessee Wesleyan.

Making up the All-AAC Second Team are: Dino Jones of Bryan; Matthew Gray, Samson Nyamunda and Torge Wiedenroth of Reinhardt; Leandro Custodio, Manu Escalera and Julio Rico of St. Andrews; Laurence Hutchinson and Nduka Kemjika of Tennessee Wesleyan; Matthew Robertshaw, Josiah Saydee and Stephon Williams of Truett-McConnell College; and Jamie Mclellan and Louis Nuttal of Union.

Earning a spot on the Champions of Character Team are: Andrews Palacio of Bluefield College, Josue' Fernandez of Bryan, Luke Dendis of Milligan College; Michael Anthony of Montreat, Sam Robson of Point University, Luke Williams of Reinhardt, Nogueira of St. Andrews, Jordan Jacob of Tennessee Wesleyan, Michael Forrester of Truett-McConnell and Dawson Marcum of Union.

There are 59 student-athletes to be named to the All-Academic Team with Reinhardt leading the way with 10 honorees.

To view all of the awards, click here.