Conference Release | Men's Soccer Awards (PDF)

Nov. 8, 2017

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (SMU/The American) – Three Mustangs were named American Athletic Conference Players of Year and six were selected to the first, second and rookie all-conference teams for the 2017 regular-season. Head Coach Kevin Hudson and his staff also earned Coaching Staff of the Year honors.

Jordan Cano was named Defensive Player of the Year, Mauro Cichero was picked as the Midfielder of the Year and Michael Nelson earned Goalkeeper of the Year. The Mustangs had four first team selections in Cano, Cichero, Nelson and Garrett McLaughlin. Jared Rice picked up second team honors, while Talen Maples earned all-rookie accolades.

Cano becomes the sixth Mustang to win the award and the first since graduate assistant Jaime Ibarra in 2012. He started 16 matches and tallied four assists while anchoring the SMU backline that has allowed only nine goals. The Frisco, Texas, native was also named the conference Defensive Player of the Week three times.

Cichero joins former Mustang John Lujano as the only players in school history to win the Midfielder of the Year award. The MAC Herman Watch List candidate played an integral part in the Mustang offense leading the conference in assists (7), finishing third in points (25) and fourth in goals (9). The Norman, Oklahoma, native scored the golden goal in SMU's 1-0 double overtime victory against Memphis on Oct. 14. It was his fourth game-winner of the season. Cichero also led the Mustangs to a 6-0 victory against Northeastern on Oct. 10 with six points (2 goals, 2 assists). He notched his first career hat trick in the season opener (Aug. 25) to earn The American Offensive Player of the Week (Aug. 28).

Nelson claimed his third conference Goalkeeper of the Year award as the senior was awarded the honor in 2014 and 2015. The Katy, Texas, native has started all 16 matches in goal for SMU and leads the conference in four categories. He is first in shutouts (9), shutouts per game (0.56), goals against average (0.55) and save percentage (.836). Nelson ranks fourth in the league in saves with 46.

McLaughlin was a first team all-conference unanimous selection after leading the conference in goals (13) and finishing second in points (28). The 2016 American Rookie of the Year ranks in the top-15 in the NCAA in three categories. The Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, native leads the nation in game-winning goals (7), tied for eighth in goals and tied for 14th in points.

Senior defender Jared Rice was selected to the second team for the Mustangs after recording a goal and five assists. Rice scored his lone goal against Temple, but has helped the SMU backline record six consecutive shutouts and 10 overall.

Talen Maples rounds out the Mustangs' honors as he was named to the all-rookie team. The freshman defender also contributed offensively, scoring his first career goal against Loyola (Md.). The Leander, Texas, native also assisted on the double overtime game-winning goal against Memphis.

The Mustangs will host the American Men's Soccer Championship, which begins Friday at Westcott Field. UCF and Connecticut kick off Championship semifinals action at 4:30 p.m. in the first match of the day on Friday, while SMU faces Temple in the night cap at 7 p.m. Both semifinal matchups will air live on The American Digital Network. The semifinal winners will square off in the title game on Sunday (1 p.m., ESPNU) for the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Mustangs by following the SMU men's soccer team on Twitter at @SMUSoccerM, on Facebook at Facebook.com/SMUSoccerM, and on Instagram at Instagram.com/SMU_MSOC. Follow SMU Athletics on Twitter at @SMUMustangs or Instagram at SMU.Mustangs.

2017 American Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Awards

Offensive Player of the Year
Matias Pyysalo, UCF

Defensive Player of the Year
Jordan Cano, SMU

Midfielder of the Year
Mauro Cichero, SMU

Goalkeeper of the Year
Michael Nelson, SMU

Rookie of the Year
Adrian Billhardt, USF

Coaching Staff of the Year
SMU

Team Academic Excellence Award
Memphis

Team Fair Play Award
(Determined by fewest accumulation of points)
Foul-1pt.; Yellow card-5 pts.
Red card-10 pts.

UCF
(108 pts. in conference play)

First Team All-Conference
Cal Jennings, F, So., UCF
Matias Pyysalo, M/F, UCF *
Yoni Sorokin, M, Fr., UCF
Jacob Hauser-Ramsey, B, Jr., UConn *
Abdou Mbacke Thiam, F, Jr., UConn *
Adrian Billhardt, F, Fr., USF
Ricardo Gomez, M, Sr., USF
Jordan Cano, B, Sr., SMU *
Mauro Cichero, M, Sr., SMU *
Garrett McLaughlin, F, So., SMU *
Michael Nelson, GK, R-Sr., SMU
Divin Fula Luzolo, B, Sr., Temple

Second Team All-Conference
Hattabiou Barry, M, Fr., UCF
Louis Perez, M, Fr., UCF
Andreas Steineger, B, Jr., UCF
David Sanz, M, So., Cincinnati
Dylan Greenberg, B, R-Sr., UConn
Scott Levene, GK, R-Sr., UConn
Ben Roberts, B, So., Memphis
David Zalzman, M, Jr., Memphis
Jared Rice, B/M, Sr., SMU
Alan Camacho Soto, F, Fr., Temple
Thibault Candia, F, So., Temple
Rollie Rocha, M, Sr., Tulsa

All-Rookie Team
Hattabiou Barry, M, UCF
Louis Perez, M, UCF
Yoni Sorokin, M, UCF *
Josh Burnett, M, UConn
Blaise N'Gague, M, UConn *
Adrian Billhardt, F, USF *
Josue Monge, M, USF
Talen Maples, B, SMU
Alan Camacho Soto, F, Temple *
Darri Sigthorsson, B, Temple
Joe Ruiz, M, Tulsa

[*] denotes unanimous selection
Ties are not broken