Men's Soccer Highlights 2019 Season With End-of-Year Banquet
WALESKA, Ga. – The Reinhardt University men's soccer program has named its team award winners for the 2019 campaign. The honorees were recognized at the men's soccer banquet for their achievements on the conference, regional and national levels this past season.
The student-athletes from the program upheld high standards both on the field and in the classroom as they represented Reinhardt.
Although the Eagles faced tremendous adversity early in the season, the young team showed great character and resilience as they closed out the year with a 10-1-1 record and narrowly missed a third-straight Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) championship by one goal.
The Eagles' record of 11-6-1 (8-2-1 AAC) claims the sixth-consecutive season with double-digit wins while maintaining a national top 25 ranking in all but one of those seasons (received votes for the Top 25 in the other season).
Recipients of the RU team awards are selected by a player's only voting system which renders the awards particularly meaningful to the honorees each season.
Here are your 2019 award winners:
Most Valuable Player: Aaron Whitten
Most Valuable Player (RU2): Nicholas Schierle
Defensive Player of the Year: Leonardo Fagioli
Defensive Player of the Year (RU2): Dimitrius Lewis
Offensive Player of the Year: Taylor Gray
Offensive Player of the Year (RU2): Seth Stankich
Newcomer of the Year: Gabriel Stefansson
Newcomer of the Year (RU2): Austin Anderson
Player's Player of the Year: Eric Weixlbaumer
Player's Player of the Year (RU2): Seth Stankich
Whitten, a junior, was recognized for his selection as a 2019 NAIA All-American Honorable Mention and USC All-Region East Second Team honor.
Five players were recognized as All- AAC selections for 2019 including: first team members Whitten, Fagioli, Stefansson, Weixlbaumer and Gray (AAC second team). Eight student-athletes were honored for their work in the classroom as they were named to the 2019 AAC All-Academic team – and senior Nathan Ashburn – was named to the AAC Champions of Character team.
Fagioli and Whitten also took home AAC All-Tournament honors for 2019.
Seniors Antonio Ciardiello, Weixlbaumer, Gray and Ashburn were honored with custom-made plaques to serve as reminders of their legacy and investment that remains within the program they leave behind.
"I am fortunate to have the opportunity to walk with these young men through this chapter of their lives and am proud, not only of who they are, but also excited about who they will become," head coach Joey Johnson said.
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For more information on Reinhardt Men's Soccer, please click here, and for information on Reinhardt Reserve Men's Soccer, please click here.