Player of the Year Pinto Leads SAC Men’s Soccer Award Winners
The 2012 SAC men’s soccer awards were announced on Wednesday, with Lincoln Memorial forward Mario Pinto headlining the list as the conference’s Player of the Year.
ROCK HILL, S.C. – The 2012 SAC men's soccer awards were announced on Wednesday, with Lincoln Memorial forward Mario Pinto headlining the list as the conference's Player of the Year.
Pinto finished at or near the top of the SAC leaderboard in numerous offensive categories, ranking first in goals with 20, first in points with 44, first in game-winning goals with six, second in shots with 77 and eighth in assists with four. He had a SAC-best four hat tricks in the regular season, including in back-to-back matches against Tusculum and Brevard in mid-October.
The junior was among Division II's most prolific offensive players during the regular season, ranking second in the nation in both goals and points.
Pinto was also one of four forwards named to the All-SAC First Team for the second season in a row, joining Wingate's Gui Lima and Mars Hill's Felipe Ferraro and Shadi Harb.
Lima finished the regular season with four goals, five assists and two game-winners for Wingate, while Harb was tied for third in the SAC with eight goals and Ferraro tied for second in assists with seven for regular-season champion MHC.
[RELATED: SAC Soccer Championship Central]
Mars Hill had two other players earn All-SAC First Team honors in midfielder Alex Mullen and defender Gregg Munn. Mullen finished the regular season tied with Ferraro with seven assists, while Munn anchored a defense that allowed a conference-low 0.79 goals per match.
In total, MHC led the SAC with six All-Conference selections, as two more Lions earned spots on the Second Team.
In addition to Lima, Wingate was also represented on the All-SAC First Team by midfielder Gui Andrade and defender Corey McCollom. Andrade tallied two goals and three assists during the regular season for the Bulldogs.
Carson-Newman had two players earn first-team All-SAC accolades in defender Trystan Dafydd and keeper Rumwald Le Gueval. The duo helped C-N's defense finish third in the conference in goals against average, allowing just 1.08 goals per contest. Le Gueval also ranked second in the league with four shutouts.
Catawba's Carson Smith – the SAC's assists leader during the regular season with nine – was picked as a first-team midfielder, as was Anderson's Shu Ogawa, who earned the distinction for the second-straight year. Lenoir-Rhyne defender Tom Holland rounded out the first-team selections.
Headlining the All-SAC Second Team was L-R forward Tobias Tobrant, who also earned the conference's Freshman of the Year award. Tobrant finished his first season with eight goals, which tied for the third-highest total in the league.
LMU and Carson-Newman had the most second-team selections with three apiece.
After leading his team to the SAC regular-season title and a spot in the national rankings for the majority of the season, first-year Mars Hill coach Gary Hamel was selected as the SAC Coach of the Year.
SAC Player of the Year: Mario Pinto, Lincoln Memorial
SAC Freshman of the Year: Tobias Tobrant, Lenoir-Rhyne
SAC Coach of the Year: Gary Hamel, Mars Hill
All-SAC First Team
Forward
Mario Pinto, Lincoln Memorial
Felipe Ferraro, Mars Hill
Shadi Harb, Mars Hill
Gui Lima, Wingate
Midfielder
Alex Mullen, Mars Hill
Gui Andrade, Wingate
Shu Ogawa, Anderson
Carson Smith, Catawba
Defender
Trystan Dafydd, Carson-Newman
Gregg Munn, Mars Hill
Corey McCollom, Wingate
Tom Holland, Lenoir-Rhyne
Goalkeeper
Rumwald Le Gueval, Carson-Newman
All-SAC Second Team
Forward
Tobias Tobrant, Lenoir-Rhyne
Stephen Bivens, Mars Hill
Diego Deschamp, Lincoln Memorial
Taylor Jolley, Carson-Newman*
Lars Zimmerman, Anderson*
Corey Faughnan, Catawba*
Midfielder
Andres Diaz, Mars Hill
Chris Nash, Lincoln Memorial
Sindre Welo, Carson-Newman
John Currie, Wingate
Defender
Evan Kelly, Carson-Newman
Callum Home, Lincoln Memorial
Victor Tozelli, Wingate
Domhnall Minogue, Catawba
Goalkeeper
Lukas Hesse, Anderson
* Three-way tie for final second-team forward spot
SAC Stat Champions
Goals per Match: Mario Pinto, Lincoln Memorial (1.33)
Points per Match: Mario Pinto, Lincoln Memorial (2.93)
Assist per Match: Carson Smith, Catawba (0.53)
Goals Against Average: Zac Scott, Mars Hill (0.74)
Save Percentage: Zac Scott, Mars Hill (.857)
Shutouts: Zac Scott, Mars Hill (6)
Team Points per Match: Lincoln Memorial (7.47)
Team Goals per Match: Lincoln Memorial (2.87)
Team Assists per Match: Mars Hill (1.82)
Team Shutouts: Lincoln Memorial/Mars Hill (6)
Team Goals Against Average: Mars Hill (0.79)
Team Winning Percentage: Mars Hill (.824)
Fair Play Award: Carson-Newman