Six Cavaliers Earn ACC Honors
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s soccer program placed a league-record, four on the ACC All-Freshman team while Joe Bell (Wanaka, New Zealand) and Henry Kessler (New York, N.Y.) were listed as Third Team All-ACC honorees.
First years Daryl Dike (Edmond, Okla.), Cabrel Happi Kamseu (Harare, Zimbabwe), Aboubacar Keita (Columbus, Ohio) and Daniel Steedman (Cornelius, N.C.) were recognized as All-Freshman performers, the most ever by a single school since the ACC All-Freshman Team was first instituted in 2003. Virginia has the second most All-Freshman honorees in ACC history with 27.
Bell, an All-Freshman team member last season, earned All-ACC honors for the first time. The sophomore has played every minute of the 2018 season, starting all 36 games of his UVA career. Just five days after helping his native New Zealand to a U-20 World Cup berth in Tahiti, Bell returned to Charlottesville to score the game-winning goal in the 90th minute against No. 19 New Hampshire on Aug. 24. He registered an assist in four-straight games from Sept. 18 through Oct. 2. His five assists on the season are the second most on the team and his three assist in conference play are tied for the third-most in the ACC.
Kessler, has anchored a Cavalier defense that has ranked in the top-five nationally for the majority of the season. Over the first seven games, Virginia had conceded just one goal for only the third time in 75 years of Virginia soccer. Kessler has started all 13 games he’s appeared in, missing only 15 minutes of action in those contests.
In his first collegiate season, Dike has emerged as one of the Cavaliers’ top scoring threats. He’s totaled five goals on 19 shots in 11 games played. The first year forward has two game-winners to his credit, the first against No. 22 Wright State on Oct. 2 and the other against No. 5 Denver on Oct. 8. All five of his goals came in a five-game span beginning on Oct. 2. Against the aforementioned Denver, he scored twice, the only multi-goal performance by a Cavalier this season.
Keita, another mainstay on the Cavalier back line, has played all 15 games, missing only one minute of action. In the TopDrawerSoccer.com midseason Freshman Top 100, Keita was ranked as the top freshman in the country. He scored his first collegiate goal in a 2-0 win at Pittsburgh on Sept. 28. Keita has helped the Virginia defense log eight shutouts, the 18th most in the country and the second most in the ACC.
The team leader in points, Happi Kamseu has scored five goals and assisted on another in 14 games played this season. He flourished in his role in the midfield, scoring in back-to-back games against Marshall (game-winner) and FIU. Since 2013, only Riggs Lennon, Happi Kamseu and Dike have scored in consecutive games in their first years on grounds.
Rounding out the four All-Freshman honorees, Daniel Steedman has two goals (both in ACC play) in 13 games played. He scored a go-ahead goal against No. 1 Wake Forest (Oct. 20) on a bicycle kick in the box. His first collegiate tally came against Clemson on Oct. 12 putting the Cavaliers up 3-1. Steedman is second on the team with 25 shots.
The 2018 NCAA Selection Show is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. on NCAA.com with first and second round matches commencing on Nov. 15 and Nov. 18, respectively. In the final regular season polls of the year, Virginia is ranked No. 11 by the United Soccer Coaches and No. 5 in the NCAA RPI.
2018 ACC Men’s Soccer Award Winners
Coach of the Year: Bobby Muuss, Wake Forest
Offensive Player of the Year: Omir Fernandez, So., M, Wake Forest
Defensive Player of the Year: Alex Comsia, Sr., D, North Carolina
Midfielder of the Year: Bruno Lapa, Jr., M, Wake Forest
Freshman of the Year: Issa Rayyan, Fr., M, Duke
First Team All-ACC
Daniele Proch, Jr., M, Duke
Tate Schmitt, Sr., F, Louisville
Nils Bruening, Sr., F, North Carolina
Alex Comsia, Sr., D, North Carolina
Mauricio Pineda, Jr., M, North Carolina
James Pyle, Sr., GK, North Carolina
David Loera, So., F, NC State
Edward Kizza, So., F, Pittsburgh
Tajon Buchanan , So., F, Syracuse
Omir Fernandez, So., M, Wake Forest
Bruno Lapa, Jr., M, Wake Forest
Second Team All-ACC
Simon Enstrom, Sr., F, Boston College
Will Pulisic, So., GK, Duke
Brandon Williamson, Jr, M., Duke
Issa Rayyan, Fr., M, Duke
Geoffrey Dee, Sr., M, Louisville
John Nelson, So., D, North Carolina
Thomas Ueland, Sr., F, Notre Dame
Patrick Berneski, Gr., D, Notre Dame
Javi Perez, Sr., M, Pittsburgh
Kristo Strickler, So., M, Virginia Tech
Brad Dunwell, Sr., M, Wake Forest
Third Team All-ACC
Ciaran McKenna, Sr., M, Duke
Cherif Dieye, Jr., M, Louisville
Jack Skahan, Jr., M, North Carolina
Manny Perez, So., F, NC State
Tommy McCabe, Jr., M, Notre Dame
Felicien Dumas, Sr., D, Notre Dame
Kamal Miller, Sr, D, Syracuse
Joe Bell, So., M, Virginia
Henry Kessler, So., D, Virginia
Mathijs Swaneveld, So., GK, Virginia Tech
Sam Raben, Sr., D, Wake Forest
All-Freshman Team
Kristofer Konraddson, Fr., M, Boston College
Charlie Asensio, Fr., D, Clemson
Issa Raayan, Fr., M, Duke
Aedan Stanley, Fr., D, Duke
Chandler Vaughn, Fr., D, Pitt
Ryan Raposo, Fr., M, Syracuse
Daryl Dike, Fr., F, Virginia
Cabrel Happi Kamseu, Fr., F, Virginia
Aboubacar Keita, Fr., D, Virginia
Daniel Steedman, Fr., F, Virginia
Aristotle Zarris, Fr., F, Wake Forest