Keita Among TDS Freshmen Best XI
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – First year defender Aboubacar Keita (Columbus, Ohio) was listed on TopDrawerSoccer.com’s Freshmen Best XI Second Team. He is one of six freshmen defenders nationally to be recognized.
Keita, an ACC All-Freshmen team honoree, started all 17 games at left back for the Cavaliers, missing only one minute of action. He scored his first collegiate goal in a 2-0 win at Pittsburgh on Sept. 28. Keita helped the Virginia defense log nine shutouts, tied for the 17th most in the country and the second most in the ACC.
Earlier in the season, Keita was rated as the top freshman in the country by TopDrawerSoccer.com in the midseason Freshman Top 100 rankings.
Keita is one of five ACC student-athletes to be honored. The Cavaliers set a new ACC record with four on the league’s All-Freshman team in November.
TopDrawerSoccer.com Freshmen Best XI
First Team
F: Gloire Amanda (Oregon State), Issa Rayyan (Duke), Alex Willis (Northern Kentucky)
M: Sofiane Djeffal (Oregon State), William James Herve (Maryland), Sebastian Schacht (St. Mary’s (CA)), Ryan Raposo (Syracuse)
D: Carlo Ritaccio (Akron), Aedan Stanley (Duke), Jack Maher (Indiana)
GK: Andrew Thomas (Stanford)
Second Team
F: Trevor Martineau (Mercer), Aristotle Zarris (Wake Forest), Zach Ryan (Stanford)
M: Jake Arteaga (Portland), John Klein (Saint Louis), Frankie Amaya (UCLA), Colin Biros (Akron)
D: Yanis Leerman (UCF), Callum Stretch (Denver), Aboubacar Keita (Virginia)
GK: Paul Kruse (Creighton)