The end of the season is always an intriguing time in the college soccer calendar. Coaches begin to sit their players down for exiting interviews and assess the outlook of the program going forward. Talk goes from a promising season to promising futures, but not everything is about expectations during the dying days of this season. This is the time to be nostalgic and remember the grandeur, craft, and guile that we have witnessed these past few months. Without further adieu, the player of the year and the teams of the year:
Goal.com Player of the Year: Teal Bunbury, Sophomore, Forward, University of Akron. (pictured)
Bunbury left many fans, opponents, and scouts in awe of his agility, pace, and power during Akron’s undefeated season. He was the focal point of the Akron attack that lead the nation in scoring. He topped the charts in goals scored with seventeen plus he added five helpers. If assists were awarded for suffering fouls that led to free kick goals, his point tally would double. While Akron’s league opponents were not the most difficult competition, their out of conference schedule was more than adequate to showcase Bunbury’s prowess at the highest collegiate level. Against teams that made the NCAA tournament this regular season, he registered ten points; averaging more than a point per game. It has been a season to treasure for the Akron faithful; Bunbury has been the pinnacle for much of the success.
Goal.com
Teams of the Year:
First Team:
GK: Brian Perk, Senior, UCLA: 14 Games played, .82 save percentage, 50 saves, 5 shutouts
DEF: Kwame Watson-Siriboe, Senior, UCONN: 19 games started, 3 goals, 13 shutouts
DEF: Ike Opara, Junior, Wake Forest: 15 games started, 3 goals, 2 assists, 9 shutouts
DEF: Kofi Sarkodie, Sophomore, Akron: 21 games started, 2 goals, 7 assists, 16 shutouts
MID: Tony Tchani, Sophomore, Virginia: 20 games started, 7 goals, 3 assists
MID: Rafael Baca, Junior, LMU: 20 games started, 9 goals, 5 assists
MID: Anthony Ampaipitakwong, Junior, Akron: 22 games started, 8 goals, 5 assists
MID: Kyle Nakazawa, Senior, UCLA: 19 games started, 12 goals, 7 assists
MID: Corben Bone, Junior, Wake Forest: 22 games started, 2 goals, 12 assists
FWD: Danny Mwanga, Sophomore, Oregon State: 18 games started, 14 goals, 2 assists
FWD: Teal Bunbury, Sophomore, Akron: 22 games started, 17 goals, 5 assists
Second Team:
GK: Diego Restrepo, Senior, Virginia: 21 games started, .892 save percentage, 58 saves, 14 shutouts
DEF: Phil Edginton, Senior, Louisville: 20 games started, 2 goals, 2 assists, 13 shutouts
DEF/MID: Bobby Warshaw, Junior, Stanford: 20 games played, 6 goals 1 assist, 9 shutouts
DEF: Mark Blades, Senior, Northwestern: 20 games started, 4 assists, 7 shutouts
MID: Michael Farfan, Junior, North Carolina: 20 games started, 5 goals, 3 assists
MID: J.C. Banks, Junior, Green Bay: 20 games started, 13 goals, 10 assists
MID: Levi Houapeu, Junior, UMBC: 20 games started, 15 goals, 13 assists
MID: Irving Garcia, Senior, UC Irvine: 22 games started, 8 goals, 9 assists
FWD: Billy Schuler, Sophomore, UNC: 20 games started, 9 goals, 4 assists
FWD: Andre Akpan, Senior, Harvard: 19 games started, 12 goals, 6 assists
FWD: Andrew Bulls, Sophomore, UMBC: 20 games started, 15 goals, 11 assists
Third Team:
GK: Zac MacMath, Sophomore, Maryland: 22 games started, .781 save percentage, 9 shutouts
DEF: Barry Rice, Senior, Kentucky: 18 games played, 2 goals, 7 shutouts
DEF: Zach Loyd, Senior, UNC: 15 games started, 2 goals, 2 assists, 11 shutouts
MID/DEF: Luis Silva, Sophomore, UCSB: 23 games started, 4 goals, 5 assists, 16 shutouts
MID: Ryan Kinne, Junior, Monmouth: 22 games started, 10 goals, 7 assists
MID: Ashley McInnes, Junior, Tulsa: 19 games started, 9 goals, 8 assists
MID: Conor O’Brien, Senior, Bucknell: 23 games started, 11 goals, 9 assists
MID/FWD: Phil Bannister, Junior, Loyola: 18 games started, 4 goals, 13 assists
FWD: Austin Neil, Sophomore, Tulsa: 20 games started, 13 goals, 3 assists
FWD: Matt Eliason, Junior, Northwestern: 20 games started, 13 goals, 3 assists
FWD: Garrett Webb, Senior, Drake: 23 games started, 13 goals, 5 assists
Freshman Team:
GK: David Meves, Akron: 22 games started, .837 save percentage, 36 saves, 16 shutouts
DEF: Zarek Valentin, Akron: 22 games started, 16 shutouts
DEF: Anthony Arena, Wake Forest: 22 games stated, 3 goals, 9 shutouts
DEF/MID: Andrew Wenger, Duke: 21 games started, 4 goals, 3 assists, 7 shutouts
MID/DEF: Machael David, UCSB: 23 games started, 1 goal, 4 assists, 16 shutouts
MID: Amobi Okugo, UCLA: 19 games started, 2 assists
MID: Dominic Reinold, Farleigh Dickinson: 18 games started, 12 goals, 4 assists
MID: Issa Tall, Adelphi: 18 games started, 16 goals, 1 assist
FWD: Will Bates, Virginia: 18 games started, 11 goals, 1 assist
FWD: Patrick Wallen, San Diego: 17 games started, 7 goals, 5 assists
FWD: Ryan Finley, Duke: 21 games started, 11 goals, 5 assists
For live updates on the Exclusive Eight games and interesting facts about the teams, follow the College Soccer Professor at twitter.com/NCAAsoccer
J.R. Eskilson writes a weekly NCAA column on Tuesday for Goal.com.
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