The UCF men’s soccer team tied a league high with three players on the All-Conference USA First Team, while six members of the team were honored by the league coaches. Nik Robson (Auckland, New Zealand), Warren Creavalle (Acworth, Ga.) and Kevan George (Roxborough, Trinidad) all were named to the conference’s first team.
Senior captain Yaron Bacher (Atlanta, Ga.) was honored with a spot on the second team and goalkeeper Shawn Doyle (Ft. Myers, Fla.) was selected to the third team. Steven Lamberta (Temecula, Calif.) was also honored with a spot on the C-USA All-Freshman Team.
Tulsa was the other program to have three members selected to the 11-member All-Conference First Team. Robson, the league’s leading scorer, was selected to the first team one season after being named to the third and the all-freshman teams in 2009. Robson scored eight goals and had nine assists in his second year with the Knights to lead all of C-USA with 25 points.
For the third-straight season, George earned a spot on an all-conference team. As a freshman, George was selected to the First Team before being named to the Second Team as a sophomore last year. In 2010, George earns a spot on the First Team with his stellar play in the midfield as he finished tied for fourth on the team with four assists.
Creavalle rounds out the trio of UCF players on the All-Conference First Team. The third-year midfielder tied for fourth on the team in scoring with 11 points on four goals and three assists and helped the Knights to their best season since joining the conference in 2005.
Bacher was named to the All-Conference Second Team for the second-consecutive season. Bacher, a senior captain, has been an anchor on the Knights’ defense that allowed a league-low 13 goals in 2010. Besides being a defensive mainstay for UCF, Bacher was third on the team with five assists, while adding a goal in the season opener against Jacksonville on Sept. 1.
Doyle, a sophomore goalkeeper, was a major reason for UCF’s success in 2010, posting the league’s top save percentage (.814) and goals-against average (0.73) to earn a spot on the All-C-USA Third Team. His seven shutouts were also tied for the most by any keeper in the conference this season.
Finally, Lamberta was recognized as one of the league’s top young players with a spot on the C-USA All-Freshman Team. He earned the distinction with strong play in the midfield during his first season with the Knights. Lamberta joins Robson (2009) and George (2008) as the only current members of UCF to have been named to the All-Freshman Team during their careers.
Blake Brettschneider of South Carolina and Arthur Ivo of SMU were named the Co-Offensive and Co-Most Valuable Players of the Year. Goalkeeper Daniel Withrow of Marshall was named the Defensive Player of the Year, while SMU’s Juan Castillo was named the Freshman of the Year. SMU’s Tim McClements was named the Coach of the Year for leading his team to a 15-1 mark overall and 7-1 in league play. The only loss of the season for the Mustangs came at the UCF Soccer Complex, 2-1, on Oct. 2.
The Knights will begin play in the 2010 C-USA Tournament at Memphis’ Mike Rose Soccer Complex on Friday at 8:30 p.m. in the second semifinal of the day. UCF earned the No. 2 seed and a bye into the semifinals and will play the winner Wednesday’s game between Kentucky and Tulsa.