CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL

FRISCO, Texas – The top four teams in the American Athletic Conference standings earned major recognition, as the 2013 American Athletic Conference Players of the Year and All-Conference teams were announced at the postseason awards banquet. No. 2 seed UConn, the highest seed remaining in the American Athletic Conference Championship, had three players honored as junior Adria Beso was named Midfielder of the Year, Andre Blake was awarded Goalkeeper of the Year, and freshman Cyle Larin was the Rookie of the Year. Regular season champion Louisville saw senior back Jimmy Ockford named Defensive Player of the Year and UCF senior Romario Williams was the Offensive Player of the Year. Temple won Coaching Staff of the Year, and also earned the Team Fair Play Award.
 
UCF’s Romario Williams earned Offensive Player of the Year honors after tying for the conference lead with 10 goals in 17 games played. The sophomore had a breakout season for the Knights, after scoring just once his freshman season. Six of Williams’ goals won games for the Knights, the most game winners in the conference. He also added two assists to finish the year with 22 points, second in the conference. Williams scored five times in conference play, representing 50 percent of the Knights’ scoring in American matches. A member of the Jamaican U17 National Team prior to UCF, Williams helped the Knights into the semifinals with an 8-4-5 record.
 
UConn midfielder Adria Beso was named American Athletic Conference Midfielder of the Year after playing a key role in a strong season for the Huskies. Beso was the setup for the UConn attack, as he easily paced the squad with eight assists, six more than any other Husky. Beso’s eight assists were third in the conference overall, and his four helpers in conference play tied him for the top spot. Beso is the second straight UConn player to earn conference Midfielder of the Year honors, as Carlos Alvarez was last season‘s Big East Midfielder of the Year. A talented player from Lleida, Spain, Beso trained with the Villarrell C.F. youth team of the top Spanish professional league La Liga.
 
Fellow Husky Andre Blake was recognized as the first American Athletic Conference Goalkeeper of the Year, his third straight conference Goalkeeper of the Year award after being named Big East Goalkeeper of the Year in 2012 and 2011. In 1443 minutes this season, Blake had the best goals against average in the conference, allowing just nine goals in 15 games for a 0.56 goals against average. He posted eight shutouts on the year, the second most in the league. UConn led the conference with just nine goals allowed, and had a team goals against average of 0.50, which is the third-best mark in the nation.
 
The third UConn representative among major award winners was Cyle Larin. The freshman was tabbed the Rookie of the Year after tying for the conference lead with 10 goals, and was second with 22 total points. Four of Larin’s tallies won games for the Huskies, the second most game-winners in the conference. Larin also paced The American with 70 shots.  Larin was named conference Rookie of the Week four times during the season, including the last three weeks of the season as he finished the year strong, scoring seven goals in his final seven games. Larin led UConn into the semifinals by scoring two goals in the quarterfinal victory over SMU.
 
Louisville’s Jimmy Ockford was the Defensive Player of the Year. Ockford was honored as the American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year, leading a stout Louisville backline that allowed just 14 goals on the season and just a league-best six tallies against in eight American games. The Cardinals allowed just 185 shots on the season, and had eight shutouts. Ockford also contributed four goals for Louisville, three of which were game-winners. Led by a strong defense, the Cardinals won the American Athletic Conference regular season championship and earned a highest rank of No. 6 nationally.
 
The Temple coaching staff of head coach David MacWilliams and assistant coaches led the Owls to a successful season at 10-4-4, 3-1-4 in the American, and exceeded expectations after the Owls were picked last in the preseason coaches’ poll. The strong season earned them recognition as Coaching Staff of the Year. Temple also earned the team Fair Play Award after totaling just 136 points (76 fouls, 12 yellow cards and zero red cards) during conference play. The Fair Play Award is given to the team that accumulates the fewest points: foul (one point), yellow card (five points) and red card (10 points).
 
2013 American Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Major Award Winners

Offensive Player of the Year
Romario Williams, UCF, So., F
 
Midfielder of the Year
Adria Beso, UConn, Jr., M
 
Defensive Player of the Year
Jimmy Ockford, Louisville, Sr., B
 
Goalkeeper of the Year
Andre Blake, UConn
 
Rookie of the Year
Cyle Larin, UConn, Fr., M
 
Coaching Staff of the Year
Temple University
 
Team Fair Play Award
Temple University
 
2013 All-Conference Teams
First Team
Romario Williams, F, So., UCF *
Adria Beso, M, Jr., UConn *
Andre Blake, GK, Jr., UConn
Sergio Campbell, B, Jr., UConn
Cyle Larin, F, Fr., UConn
Marlon Hairston, M, So., Louisville
Jimmy Ockford, B, Sr., Louisville
Ricardo Velazco, F, So., Louisville
Mark Sherrod, F, RSr., Memphis
Mael Corboz, M, So., Rutgers
Ben Sweat, B, Sr., USF

Second Team
Steven Lamberta, B, UCF
George Fochive, M, Sr., UConn
Mamadou Doudou Diouf, F, Sr., UConn
Andrew Brody, M, Fr., Louisville
Michael DeGraffenreidt, B, Fr., Louisville
Liam Collins, M, Sr., Memphis
David Greczek, GK, Fr., Rutgers
Samuel Hosseini, M, Sr., USF
Lindo Mfeka, F, Fr., USF
Jared Martinelli, M, So., Temple
Robert Sagel, B, Fr., Temple
 
All-Rookie Team
Fernando Laverde, M, Fr., UCF
Kwame Awuah, B, Fr., UConn *
Cyle Larin, F, Fr., UConn
Andrew Brody, M, Fr., Louisville *
Michael DeGraffenreidt, B, Fr., Louisville
Raul Gonzalez, M, Fr., Memphis
David Greczek, GK, Fr., Rutgers
Erik Sa, M, Fr., Rutgers
Lindo Mfeka, M, Fr., USF
Deshawon Nembhard, B, Fr., SMU
Robert Sagel, B, Fr., Temple
 
* = Unanimous Selection