Four Earn All-State Honors from VaSID

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Four Virginia men’s soccer players – Henry Kessler (New York, N.Y.), Joe Bell Wanaka, New Zealand), Aboubacar Keita (Columbus, Ohio) and Colin Shutler (Broadlands, Va.) – were recognized as All-State honorees by the Virginia Sports Information Directors.

Kessler was listed on the first team while Bell, Keita and Shutler appeared on the Second Team. All four receive All-State honors for the first time in their careers and the four student-athletes selected were tied with James Madison for the most in the Commonwealth.
 
In a breakout sophomore campaign, Kessler adds First Team All-State accolades to a postseason resume that includes Third Team All-ACC and Third Team All-South Region honors. He started 16 games in 2018, playing full time in all but three of those matches. Over the first seven games, the Virginia defense conceded only one goal for only the second time in school history and posted the country’s 13th lowest goals against average (0.68).
 
Bell, also a Third Team All-Region and Third Team ACC selection, was one of three Cavaliers on the VaSID Second Team. The second-year midfielder played every minute for the Cavaliers during the 2018 season and has started the first 38 games of his UVA career. He finished the year with second on the team lead with five assists and added a goal, a game-winner in the 90th minute of the season opener against No. 19 New Hampshire on Aug. 24.
 
Keita is fresh off an All-America honor from TopDrawerSoccer.com on Monday (Dec. 17). The first year was an ACC All-Freshmen team honoree and started all 17 games at left back for the Cavaliers, missing only one minute of action. Keita helped the Virginia defense log nine shutouts, tied for the 17th most in the country and the second most in the ACC. He scored his first collegiate goal in a 2-0 win at Pittsburgh on Sept. 28.
 
Shutler played every minute of the regular season in goal for the Cavaliers before suffering an injury prior to the postseason. He finished 2018 with a goals against average of 0.70, the second lowest in the ACC and the 14th lowest in the country. He was credited with eight of the team’s nine clean sheets, tied for the 16th most in NCAA Soccer.