CONFERENCE CAROLINAS REPRESENTED ON 2012 DAKTRONICS NCAA DIVISION II MEN’S SOCCER ALL-SOUTHEAST REGION TEAM
BANNER ELK, N.C. --- Lincoln Memorial
University junior forward Mario Pinto has been named the 2012
Daktronics NCAA Division II Southeast Region Men’s Soccer
Player of the Year, while Mars Hill College leads the region with
five selections, announced region officials Monday with the release
of the Daktronics all-Southeast Region teams.
Mars Hill leads the pack with five total selections, including a
pair of first-team nods, while the University of Montevallo
followed closely with four honorees. Flagler College and Lander
University each placed three players on the all-region teams.
Pinto put together an impressive season for Lincoln Memorial,
scoring a region-best 21 goals and seven match-winners en route to
South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year honors. The junior
forward was joined on the first team by forwards Coker
College’s Niko Tirkkonen (Hollola, Finland),
Montevallo’s Pierre Omanga (Paris, France), and Stephen
Bivens (Douglassville, Ga.) of Mars Hill.
Flagler’s Joseph Toby (Freetown, Sierra Leone) headlined
the first-team midfield corps, and was joined by Barton
College’s Dante De Luca (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil),
Mars Hill’s Alex Mullen (Adelaide, Australia) and
Lander’s Chris Hobbs (Cleveland, England).
Defenders Gary O’Neill (Dublin, Ireland) of Montevallo,
Kevin Keenan (Portlaoise, Ireland) of Flagler, Corey McCollum
(Monroe, N.C.) of Wingate, and Clement Simonin (Lorient, France)
earned first-team honors, along with Montevallo goalkeeper Brandon
Ledgeway (York, England).
Mars Hill headlined the second team with three selections,
including forwards Felipe Ferraro (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Shadi
Harb (San Andres, Colombia) and goalkeeper Zac Scott (Pittsboro,
N.C.). Forwards Ado Junuzovic (Lawrenceville, Ga.) of Clayton State
University and Zach Shanahan (Waterford, Ireland) of Flagler also
earned second-team honors.
Midfielders Sean Hoek (Little Rock, Ark.), Tom McCready
(Ellesmere Port, England) of Limestone College, Kevin
Durand (Rennes, France), and Gui Andrade (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
garnered second-team recognition; defenders Larry Mahon
(Kildare, Ireland) of Limestone, Akeem Prendes
(Brampton, Ontario) of Coker, Lars Zimmerman (Malente,
Germany) of Anderson University and Mike Rinzema (Brampton,
Ontario) rounded out the second team.
The Daktronics NCAA Division II all-Southeast Region Teams are
voted on by the sports information directors of the Southeast
Region. The region is comprised of the Conference Carolinas, the
Peach Belt Conference, and the South Atlantic Conference.
Members of the first team are now eligible for Daktronics NCAA
Division II All-America honors.
The team is sponsored by Daktronics, Inc., an acknowledged world
leader in scoring, timing and programmable display systems for
virtually every sport at every level of competition.