CONFERENCE CAROLINAS REPRESENTED ON 2012 DAKTRONICS NCAA DIVISION II MEN’S SOCCER ALL-SOUTHEAST REGION TEAM

CONFERENCE CAROLINAS REPRESENTED ON 2012 DAKTRONICS NCAA DIVISION II MEN’S SOCCER ALL-SOUTHEAST REGION TEAM

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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.