Big South Announces 2021 Spring Men's Soccer Annual Award Winners
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – High Point sophomore forward
MD Myers (Delran, N.J.) and Campbell junior defender
Franck Momo (Paris, France) have been voted the 2020-21 Big South Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, respectively, by the conference’s head coaches, it was announced today by the league office. Campbell midfielder
Sami Charaf Amal (Casablanca, Morocco) was tabbed Freshman of the Year, while USC Upstate head coach
Scott Halkett was voted Coach of the Year. In addition, the Big South’s sports information directors voted UNC Asheville redshirt-junior
Taylor Durall (Plover, Wis.) as the men’s soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Myers is the first Panther to win Attacking/Offensive Player of the Year honors since
Ilias Kosmidis in 2018. The sophomore was the only player in the conference to reach double-figure goals, as he closed the spring season with 12 goals. He recorded two-goal performances five times throughout the year, headlined by a five-point effort in a conference win over Radford on March 7. Myers received seven first-place votes and 21 points, ahead of USC Upstate’s
Pol Monells (18 points and two first-place votes).
Momo is the second straight Camel to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors after former teammate
Gideon Betz claimed the award in 2019. Momo led a Camel backline that posted five clean sheets and allowed just five goals in conference play. The defender has played the full 90 minutes in six matches and also added three goals and three assists on the offensive end. Momo received four first-place votes and 17 points, followed by High Point’s
Holden Trent (three first-place votes and 12 points) and Radford’s
Octavio Ocampo (one first-place vote and nine points).
Amal is the second straight CU player to earn Freshman of the Year honors after
Moses Mensah claimed the honor in 2019. The midfielder led all freshmen and ranked fourth in the conference with six goals for the spring season. Five of his six tallies came against conference opponents, including a two-goal effort in Campbell’s victory over Radford in the regular-season finale on April 10. In his collegiate debut against Shaw on Feb. 15, he assisted on both of the Camels’ goals in a 2-0 home triumph. Amal received two first-place votes and 15 points, ahead of High Point’s
Finn McRobb (three first-place votes and 14 points) and USC Upstate’s
Jeremy Montero (two first-place votes and 13 points).
Halkett is the first coach from USC Upstate to earn Coach of the Year honors. After being picked to finish fifth in the annual Preseason Men’s Soccer Poll, Halkett led USC Upstate to a tie for second place in the final conference standings. The Spartans finished with a 6-1-1 conference record and earned its highest seed in the Men’s Soccer Championship in program history. Halkett received five first-place votes and 20 points, ahead of High Point’s
Zach Haines (three first-place votes and 13 points) and UNC Asheville’s
Mick Giordano (one first-place vote and 12 points).
Durall carries a 3.97 GPA as a Chemistry major with a minor in neuroscience. A member of the CoSIDA Academic All-District team in 2019, the redshirt-junior started every game for the Bulldogs and leads the team with three goals. After his athletic career, Durall plans to attend MD-PhD school and pursue a career as a physician-scientist.
The league also announced the 2020-21 Spring All-Conference and All-Academic teams on Tuesday, which are listed below. The All-Conference team is voted by the head coaches and features three forwards, four midfielders, four defenders, one goalkeeper and one at-large spot on each team, plus five honorable mention honorees regardless of position and an 11-member all-freshman team. The All-Academic Team consists of one student-athlete from each institution that meets the criteria and is nominated and selected by the Big South’s sports information directors.
2020-21 Big South Conference Spring Men’s Soccer Award Winners
First-Team All-Conference
F: MD Myers, Soph., High Point
F: Pol Monells, Sr., USC Upstate
F: Jalen James, R-Soph., Campbell
MF: Sebastian Chalbaud, Jr., High Point
MF: Sami Charaf Amal, Fr., Campbell
MF: Pascal Corvino, Soph., USC Upstate
MF: Miles Peay, Jr., UNC Asheville
D: Franck Momo, Jr., Campbell
D: Finn McRobb, Fr., High Point
D: Moses Mensah, Soph., Campbell
D: Luca Ziegler, Sr., Presbyterian College
GK: Holden Trent, R-Soph., High Point
AL: Diego Koninicks, Soph., D, Campbell
Second-Team All-Conference
F: Abel Gebrekiros, Sr., Gardner-Webb
F: Alex Abril, Jr., High Point
F: Jeremy Montero, Fr., USC Upstate
MF: Humberto Chavez, Sr., Campbell
MF: George Bediko, Sr., Campbell
MF: Matt Lock, Jr., Campbell
MF: Mason Marcey, Sr., High Point
D: Octavio Ocampo, Soph., Radford
D: Cesar Sancho, R-Soph., Presbyterian College
D: Alessandro Sobacchi, Jr., High Point
D: Hayden Anderson, Soph., USC Upstate
GK: Sam Lechuga, Sr., Campbell
AL: Sam Catherall, Jr., D, Gardner-Webb
Honorable Mention All-Conference
Josh Dubost, Jr., D, High Point
Bissafi Dotte, Soph., D, Campbell
Paul Bobai, Jr., MF, USC Upstate
Nokkvi Nokkvason, Fr., D, Presbyterian College
Lalas Ayertey, Jr., MF, High Point
All-Freshman Team
Sami Charaf Amal, MF, Campbell
Finn McRobb, D, High Point
Jeremy Montero, F, USC Upstate
Nokkvi Nokkvason, D, Presbyterian College
Davis Biggerstaff, MF, High Point
Tyler Young, F, Campbell
Conor Behan, MF, UNC Asheville
Caco Fernandez, MF, High Point
Leon Musial, GK, UNC Asheville
Sebastian Reventlow, MF, Gardner-Webb
Elias Ehlin, D, USC Upstate
All-Academic Team
Alex Egeonu, F, Sr., Campbell
Cole Sanfilippo, D, Sr., Gardner-Webb
MD Myers, F, Soph., High Point
Jonas Kalchner, D, Jr., Longwood
Luca Ziegler, S, Sr., Presbyterian College
Dondre’ Robinson, F, Sr., Radford
Taylor Durall, F, R-Jr., UNC Asheville
Mario Arrocha, F, R-Soph., USC Upstate
George Orfanidis, D, Sr., Winthrop
Offensive Player of the Year
MD Myers, F, Soph., High Point
Defensive Player of the Year
Franck Momo, D, Jr., Campbell
Freshman of the Year
Sami Charaf Amal, MF, Campbell
Coach of the Year
Scott Halkett, USC Upstate
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Taylor Durall, F, R-Jr., UNC Asheville