The Southern Athletic Association (SAA) men's soccer coaches took notice of Oglethorpe's regular season conference championship campaign Tuesday. They rewarded the Stormy Petrels by putting eight of the team's players on All-SAA teams and naming senior goalkeeper Vaughn Moore the SAA Defensive Player of the Year, freshman midfielder Topher Marshall the SAA Newcomer of the Year, and Head Coach Jon Akin the SAA Coach of the Year. In addition to Moore and Marshall, the Petrels placed senior forward Nick Muntean, junior midfielder Gustavo Martinez, junior defender Micah Akin and sophomore defender Jordan Locke on the All-SAA First Team. Senior midfielder Martijn Edelman earned an All-SAA Second Team nod while freshman midfielder Arturo Hernandez made the All-SAA Honorable Mention list.
"I think by the coaches voting this way, it confirms my assumptions that we were the best team in the league player-for-player," said Akin. "All of these gentlemen were very deserving of these awards and I'm obviously very happy for all of them."
Moore earned the program's second SAA Defensive Player of the Year award in the last three years (Nikos Papanikolopoulos, 2013) and garnered accolades as the All-SAA First Team goalkeeper, the best goalkeeper in the league as voted by the SAA coaches, for the second time in his career. He finished first in the league in goals against average (0.76) and allowed the fewest goals of any SAA goalkeeper on the year (12). That goals against average put him 49th in the nation, as well. He also tied for the league lead with five official shutouts on the season while not allowing a goal during his time in five other contests. He finished second in the SAA with 10 wins on the season. He earned the SAA Defensive Player of the Week award twice in 2015 and was named to the SAA All-Tournament Team.
Marshall stormed onto the scene as an Oglethorpe freshman, marking the first Stormy Petrel to earn a conference newcomer of the year award since David Mueller took the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) honors in 2004. In addition, he earned a spot on the All-SAA First Team. Marshall finished second in the league in assists with seven, including a league-leading four in conference play. He also bagged a pair of game-winning goals, including a golden goal to defeat conference rival Millsaps in extra time Oct. 11. Marshall garnered an SAA Offensive Player of the Week award for his part in the team's victory over Hendrix to clinch the SAA regular season championship on Oct. 18, putting up two goals and an assist over the course of the game.
Akin earned the fourth conference coach of the year award of his career, and his second SAA Coach of the Year honor. He previously earned the SAA honor in 2013 after leading his squad to the conference championship for the second time in program history. He earned two SCAC Coach of the Year awards, the first in 2004 and the second in 2011 after the program's first conference championship. This year, he led his team to a 10-3-3 record, the program's first-ever regular season conference championship, and its third conference championship of any type during his tenure. It marked the sixth time in his 13 seasons as head coach that his team finished with double-digit wins.
"There are a lot of good coaches in the SAA, so to be named coach of the year is certainly a great honor," said Akin. "Honestly though, it comes down to having very good players and executing as a team over the course of the year. I felt we did that and I'm very happy to accept this honor on behalf of the team."
Joining Moore and Marshall on the All-SAA First Team were Muntean, Martinez, Akin and Locke. Muntean earned his third career All-SAA honors after taking All-SAA Honorable Mention the past two seasons. He finished first in the league in shots per game (4.63) and in shots on goal per game (2.38). Those marks also placed him 23rd and 25th in the nation, respectively. He also finished second in the SAA in goals (11) and third in points (23). He garnered an SAA Offensive Player of the Week award Sept. 21. Martinez, who has proven himself to be one of the best midfielders in the league, earned his third career All-SAA honor and his second first team accolade, acting as a stalwart in midfield and the engine that keeps the Oglethorpe attack operating smoothly. Akin took his third career All-SAA accolade and his second career first team honor, as well. He joined Locke to form half of the best defensive unit in the SAA. Akin and Locke teamed up to help the team record the league's best goals against average (0.77) and fewest goals allowed (13).
Edelman earned his second career All-SAA honor in his senior campaign after taking honorable mention in 2014. He earned SAA Defensive Player of the Week honors for his work as a defensive midfielder in the team's 6-1 victory over Sewanee Oct. 3, but he proved to be an important two-way threat for the Petrels over the course of the year, scoring six goals and tallying a pair of assists. He was a perfect 3-for-3 from the penalty spot on the season and finished fifth in the league with three game-winning goals. He also scored on an impressive one-third of his overall shots, finishing sixth in the league in shot percentage.
Hernandez proved to be a lightning bolt off the bench all year long for the Petrels, injecting energy into the Oglethorpe attack late in games. His biggest goal of the year came in the team's 1-0 victory over Birmingham-Southern Oct. 9, when he scored the game-winner in the 77th minute of a tight, defensive battle. He also scored two other goals on the year and finished with four assists, putting him in the league's top 10 in the latter category.
"It's great to see our players being recognized for the great year we had as a team," said Akin. "It's very exciting to know that we return many of these guys, including eight of this year's 11 starters, for next year's team."
