PROVIDENCE, R.I. – UCF collected four major awards, with UConn earning two as the American Athletic Conference announced the 2018 Men’s Soccer regular season honors Tuesday, as voted upon by the league’s head coaches.
UCF’s Cal Jennings was tabbed the Offensive Player of the Year, with teammates Louis Perez and Yannik Oettl earning Midfielder and Goalkeeper of the Year accolades, respectively. UConn’s Jacob Hauser-Ramsey was named the Defensive Player of the Year, with fellow Husky Felix Metzler gathering Rookie of the Year honors. All six honorees were named to the 2018 All-Conference Teams, also announced Tuesday.
The Knights’ staff, led by head coach Scott Calabrese, was selected by their peers as the Coaching Staff of the Year. UConn was the recipient of the Team Fair Play Award, recognizing the team with the fewest conduct fouls during the regular season.
Jennings leads The American and ranks second nationally as a goal-scorer this season, having found the back of the net 19 times thus far with four assists for 42 points. His goal and point totals are both American Athletic Conference single-season records, and the junior has registered three hat tricks in 2018. A native of Roswell, Ga., Jennings has scored a goal in all but five games this season, is a three-time conference Offensive Player of the Week and has been named to the TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week as many times. In all, Jennings leads the league in goals, points, shots and game-winning goals.
Perez is the first UCF player to garner American Midfielder of the Year honors and has provided the spark for one of the nation’s top offenses this season. He owns three goals and five assists for 11 points, and most recently propelled the Knights with the lone goal in a 1-0 win over Cincinnati. The victory over the Bearcats sealed a share of the regular season title and top overall seed for the American Championship.
Oettl has backstopped the No. 9-ranked Knights to four shutouts this season, posting a 0.97 goals against average and .768 save percentage. The sophomore posted back-to-back games of seven and eight saves, respectively, against USF and Memphis to help the Knights to five league wins. Oettl and the UCF defense is permitting just 1.00 goals per game and just 0.86 goals per game in conference play.
Hauser-Ramsey led The American with four Defensive Player of the Week selections in 2018 and was a key component in UConn’s 10-4-2 record. The Huskies rattled off a 10-game unbeaten streak from Sept. 8 to Oct. 23, permitting no more than two goals from opponents during the stretch. Led by Hauser-Ramsey, the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, UConn has allowed just 19 goals on the season.
Metzler was named the Rookie of the Year after starting all but one game for UConn in his first season. On the year, the freshman midfielder registered a goal and an assist and helped an offense that registered 25 goals with 24 assists.
UCF earns its first Coaching Staff of the Year honor since joining The American. Calabrese and his staff own a 12-2-2 record heading into the postseason, and have guided one of the nation’s top offenses this season. The Knights are ranked third in Division I with 2.50 goals per game and fourth with 7.31 points per game, and earned the program’s first regular season title since 2004 with a 5-1-1 mark in The American.
UCF, UConn, Memphis, USF, SMU and Temple will vie for the 2018 American Athletic Conference Championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Championship beginning Tuesday, culminating with the title game on Saturday, Nov. 10.
American Athletic Conference
2018 Men’s Soccer Awards
Offensive Player of the Year
Cal Jennings, Jr., F, UCF
Defensive Player of the Year
Jacob Hauser-Ramsey, Sr., D, UConn
Midfielder of the Year
Louis Perez, So., M, UCF
Goalkeeper of the Year
Yannik Oettl, So., UCF
Rookie of the Year
Felix Metzler, Fr., M, UConn
Coaching Staff of the Year
UCF
Team Fair Play Award
UConn
First Team All-Conference
F - Cal Jennings, Jr., UCF*
F - Abdou Mbacke Thiam, Sr., UConn*
F - Tomasz Skublak, Sr., USF
M - Louis Perez, So., UCF*
M - Yoni Sorokin, So., UCF
M - Emil Cuello, Sr., SMU
D - Jacob Hauser-Ramsey, Sr., UConn*
D - Talen Maples, So., SMU
D - Ben Roberts, Jr., Memphis
GK - Yannik Oettl, So., UCF
At-Large - David Zalzman, Sr., M, Memphis
Second Team All-Conference
Grant Makela, Jr., GK, SMU
Yanis Leerman, Fr., D, UCF
Dylan Greenberg, R-Sr., D, UConn
Dayonn Harris, R-Jr.., M, UConn
Robin Lapert, So., D, UConn
Felix Metzler, Fr., M, UConn
Avionne Flanagan, So., D, USF
Alex Zis, Jr., M, USF
Garrett McLaughlin, Jr., F, SMU
Akean Shackleford, Jr., F, SMU
Lukas Fernandes, Jr., M, Temple
Chase Bromstedt, So., M, Tulsa
All-Rookie Team
Andres Hernandez Betancur, Fr., D, UCF
Yanis Leerman, Fr., D, UCF*
Ibrahima Diop, Fr., F, UConn
Felix Metzler, Fr., M, UConn*
Gurman Sangha, Fr., M/F, Memphis
Henrique Gallina, Fr., D, USF
Knut Ahlander, Fr., M, SMU
Lane Warrington, Fr., M, SMU
Andres Charles-Barrera, Fr., M, Temple
Jalen Campbell, Fr., M, Temple
Gilles Kuhler, Fr., F, Tulsa*
*denotes unanimous selection