School-Record Seven Cavaliers Listed on All-ACC Team
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 2 Virginia landed a school-record, seven members on the 2019 ACC All-Conference teams, including Midfielder of the Year Joe Bell (Wanaka, New Zealand) as announced by the league office on Wednesday (Nov. 13). Clemson and Virginia tied for the most selections between the first, second and third teams.
Bell is the first Cavalier to take home the league’s Midfielder of the Year since the award’s inception in 2014. Bell was joined on the first team by goalkeeper Colin Shutler (Middleburg, Va.). Sophomore striker Daryl Dike (Edmond, Okla.) and defender Henry Kessler (New York, N.Y.) where Second Team honorees while Robin Afamefuna (Wuerselen, Germany), Irakoze Donasiyano (Roanoke, Va.) and Andreas Ueland (Bryne, Norway) collected Third Team accolades. Ueland was also listed on the 11-man ACC All-Freshman team.
The program’s previous high of six All-ACC honorees occurred on four different occasions – 1985, 1988, 1992 and 1994. Head coach George Gelnovatch was part of the six recognized on the 1985 team.
Program-record 7️⃣ take home All-ACC honors including third-year Joe Bell who was the #ACCMSoccer Midfielder of the Year! #GoHoos
📝: https://t.co/MsjY2NDlnE pic.twitter.com/dZ9VgVwbyK
— Virginia Men’s Soccer (@UVAMenSoccer) November 13, 2019
Bell becomes the first Cavalier to take home a major conference award since 2008 when Tony Tchiani was named the league’s rookie of the year. As a first team honoree, Bell has garnered all-conference accolades in all three seasons in Charlottesville after being listed on the second team last year and on the all-freshman team in 2017. Bell has three goals this season, all on penalty kicks and recorded four assists in conference play, the third most of any ACC player. He has started all 55 games of his career and has missed just seven minutes of action in 17 games this season.
In his second year starting as the Cavalier goaltender, Shutler sports the lowest goals against average (0.34), the highest save percentage (.878) and the most shutouts (12) of any goalkeeper in the country. His career goals against average of 0.51 in 32 starts is the lowest among active goalkeepers in the nation and the third lowest in UVA history. He was twice recognized this season as the ACC Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 9 & Sept. 30).
Dike is the team’s leading point-getter with 21 (7g, 7a) on the year. His seven assists are the sixth-most in the ACC and his 21 points are the most by a Cavalier since Will Bates in 2012. Dike is credited with game-winning goals against NC State (Sept. 20), then-No. 24 Louisville (Oct. 4) and Saint Louis (Oct. 22). He setup game-winning scores by drawing fouls in the box against George Washington (Oct. 1) and Notre Dame (Sept. 28). Dike was the ACC Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 28 after scoring a pair of goals against Saint Louis and another against Virginia Tech.
At center back, Kessler anchored the NCAA’s top defense during the regular season. In 16 regular season games, the Cavaliers conceded just five goals, matching a school record. A 2018 Third Team All-Conference performer, he is one of two Cavalier field players to have played every minute of every match this season. From his defensive position scored his first career goal against then-No. 2 Duke. Kessler and the Cavaliers have held opponents to single-digit shots in 10 of 17 games and five or less shots five times.
Serving as a team Captain, Afamefuna received an All-Conference nod for the first time in his career. A 2017 All-Freshman team member, Afamefuna started all 17 games, missing just four minutes of action on the Cavalier back line. The senior scored his lone goal this season on a set piece against George Washington, a tally that landed him the No. 1 spot on SportsCenter’s Top-10 plays list for the night. His only assist of the year was on the game-winning goal against NC State on Sept. 20. He was recognized as the ACC Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 7 after scoring a goal and leading the Cavaliers to a pair of shutouts.
Donasiyano takes home ACC honors for the first time in his career. The junior midfielder is second on the team with 11 points (4g, 3a). He is credited with game-winning goals against Pacific (Aug. 30) and then-No. 18 James Madison (Oct. 15). Against Saint Louis on Oct. 22, he registered three points scoring a goal and assisting on the game’s final tally in a 3-0 victory. He was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 3 thanks to his multi-goal effort in the season-opener.
As a first year, Ueland has played every minute on the top defensive unit in the country and earned Third Team and All-Freshman team honors. He was ranked No. 7 on TopDrawerSoccer.com’s midseason Top 100 freshman list. He helped the Cavaliers to a NCAA best 12 shutouts in 17 games and a scoreless streak of 692 minutes over a span of eight games earlier this season. He scored the game-winning goal in overtime of the season finale against North Carolina, helping the Cavaliers clinch their first ever Coastal Division Championship.
2019 Men’s Soccer All-ACC Team
Offensive Player of the Year – Robbie Robinson, Jr., F, Clemson
Defensive Player of the Year – Malick Mbaye, Sr., D, Clemson
Midfielder of the Year – Joe Bell, Jr., M, Virginia
Freshman of the Year – Phillip Mayaka, M, Clemson
Coach of the Year – Mike Noonan, Clemson
First Team
Phillip Mayaka, Fr., M, Clemson
Malick Mbaye, Sr., D, Clemson
Robbie Robinson, Jr., F, Clemson
Kimarni Smith, Jr., F, Clemson
Daniele Proch, Sr., M, Duke
Mauricio Pineda, Sr., M, North Carolina
Edward Kizza, Jr., F, Pitt
Ryan Raposo, So., M, Syracuse
Joe Bell, Jr., M, Virginia
Colin Shutler, Jr., GK, Virginia
Bruno Lapa, Sr., M, Wake Forest
Second Team
Grayson Barber, So., F, Clemson
Tanner Dieterich, Sr., M, Clemson
George Marks, So., GK, Clemson
Cherif Dieye, Sr., M, Louisville
David Loera, Jr., M, NC State
Jeremy Kelly, Sr., M, North Carolina
Jack Skahan, Sr., M, North Carolina
Jack Lynn, So., F, Notre Dame
Daryl Dike, So., F, Virginia
Henry Kessler, Jr., D, Virginia
Kristo Strickler, Jr., M, Virginia Tech
Third Team
Stefan Sigurdarson, Fr., F, Boston College
Felicien Dumas, Gr., D, Notre Dame
Veljko Petkovic, Fr., M, Pitt
Sito Sena, Jr., D, Pitt
Robin Afamefuna, Sr., D/M, Virginia
Irakoze Donasiyano, F, Jr. Virginia
Andreas Ueland, Fr., D, Virginia
Machop Chol, Jr., M/F, Wake Forest
Alistair Johnston, Sr., M, Wake Forest
Andrew Pannenberg, So., GK, Wake Forest
Isaiah Parente, So., M, Wake Forest
All-Freshman Team
Amos Shapiro-Thompson, M, Boston College
Stefan Sigurdarson, F, Boston College
Victor Souza, D, Boston College
Oskar Agren, D, Clemson
Phillip Mayaka, M, Clemson
Valentin Noel, M, Pitt
Arturo Ordonez, D, Pitt
Veljko Petkovic, M, Pitt
Andreas Ueland, D, Virginia
Daniel Pereira, M, Virginia Tech
Calvin Harris, F, Wake Forest