IRVING, Texas – The American Athletic Conference has announced the winners of its 2022 men’s soccer honors, as chosen by the league coaches.
Three student-athletes repeated as individual winners with SMU graduate midfielder Knut Ahlander winning Midfielder of the Year, Tulsa senior defender Mariano Fazio capturing Defensive Player of the Year, and Tulsa sophomore goalkeeper Alex Lopez earning Goalkeeper of the Year for a second time.
Ahlander took home two awards as he was named The American’s Offensive Player of the Year for the first time in his career, while earning Midfielder of the Year honors for a second time (2020). Ahlander leads the conference in points, points per game and total goals. His 12 goals on the season is sixth in the nation.
Fazio captured American Defensive Player of the Year honors for a second straight season, becoming the first player to win back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year honors. Fazio averaged 84 minutes per match and helped anchor the top-ranked defense in The American.
The Golden Hurricane added Goalkeeper of the Year, as well, as Lopez won his second consecutive award. Lopez recorded five clean sheets, including four in conference play. He led The American in shutouts and shutouts per game (0.45), earning a clean sheet in nearly half of his starts.
SMU’s forward Alexander Petraeus took home Rookie of the Year honors, becoming the second Mustang to earn the award (Garrett McLaughlin; 2016). Appearing in 14 matches, Petraeus led The American in total assists (9) and assists per game (0.64). He added three goals on the season.
In their first season in the league, FIU head coach Kyle Russell and his staff were tabbed American Coaching Staff of the Year. The Panthers took home the regular season title following a 6-2-1 record in conference play. FIU was ranked 17
th in the Nov. 7 NCAA RPI rankings. Russell and his staff helped lead the Panthers to eight wins over current RPI Top 100 opponents.
Tulsa earned the Team Fair Play Award for having the lowest amount of fouls, yellow cards and red cards. It is the second straight year the Golden Hurricane have earned the award and the third time overall (2018).
The Golden Hurricane led the league with four first team all-conference selections. Two student-athletes were unanimously selected to the first team – Ahlander and FIU senior forward Stephen Afrifa.
Six student-athletes repeated as first team all-conference members. Tulsa’s junior forward Alex Meinhard and Ahlander both earned their third straight first team honor, while UCF junior forward Lucca Dourado, Tulsa midfielder Henry Sach, Fazio and Lopez each earned their second selection on the first team.
SMU led all teams with three All-Rookie selections, including two unanimous selections in forward Fredrik Skilberg and Petraeus. Memphis forward Alberto Cruz and Tulsa defender Wes Bottenburg were also unanimous selection for the All-Rookie Team.
2022 American Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Awards
Offensive Player of the Year
Knut Ahlander, Gr., M, SMU
Defensive Player of the Year
Mariano Fazio, Sr., D, Tulsa
Midfielder of the Year
Knut Ahlander, Gr., M, SMU
Goalkeeper of the Year
Alex Lopez, So., GK, Tulsa
Rookie of the Year
Alexander Petraeus, Fr., F, SMU
Coaching Staff of the Year
FIU
Head Coach Kyle Russell, Associate Head Coach Dannie Merida,
Assistant Coach Lucas Champenois, Volunteer Assistant Nicholas Itopoulos
Team Fair Play Award
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
First Team All-Conference
Kameron Lacey, Sr., F, Charlotte
Lucca Dourado, Jr., F, UCF
Anderson Rosa, Jr., D, UCF
Stephen Afrifa, Sr., F, FIU*
Yushi Nagao, Sr., M, FIU
Knut Ahlander, Gr., M, SMU*
Mads Westergren, So., D, SMU
Mariano Fazio, Sr., D, Tulsa
Alex Lopez, So., GK, Tulsa
Alex Meinhard, Jr., F, Tulsa
Henry Sach, Sr., M, Tulsa
*denotes unanimous selection
Second Team All-Conference
Jack Hudson Gr., GK, UAB
Sean Suber, Sr., D, Charlotte
Gino Vivi, Sr., M, UCF
Bernardo Dos Santos Monteiro, So., F, FIU
Carlos Scheckermann, Sr., D, FIU
Alberto Cruz, Fr., F, Memphis
Lineker Rodrigues dos Santos, So., M, Memphis
Colin Welsh, So., GK, Memphis
Brian Schaefer, So., D, South Florida
Salvatore Mazzaferro, Jr., D, South Florida
JP Jordan, So., M, SMU
Alexander Petraeus, Fr., F, SMU
All-Rookie Team
Mathias Love Groth, M, UAB
Juanvi Munoz, GK, UCF
Brad Dildy, D/M, Charlotte
Samy Kolby, D/M, Charlotte
Andreas Raisanen, F, Florida Atlantic
Joao Domingues, D, FIU
Alberto Cruz, F, Memphis*
Nikola Djordjevic, D, SMU
Alexander Petraeus, F, SMU*
Fredrik Skilberg, F, SMU*
Draven Barnett, D, Temple
Wes Bottenburg, D, Tulsa*
*denotes unanimous selection