Van Der Luit and Roberts Lead Way in TSC Yearly Honors

TAMPA, Fla.- The Sun Conference office has announced the 2019 Men's Soccer All-Conference selections and special awards. The No. 8 Southeastern University men's soccer team led all squads with seven total placements and also grabbed a pair of special awards.

SEU head coach Clay Roberts was named The Sun Conference Coach of the Year after leading the Fire to a 14-1-2 overall record, including 7-1-1 in conference play, a mark which led the team to the TSC Regular Season Championship. This is the second time Coach Roberts has been named TSC Coach of the Year, also having earned the honor in 2015.

Graduate forward Jake Van Der Luit was named The Sun Conference Player of the Year. Van Der Luit led The Sun Conference in goals scored (20) and points (47). Van Der Luit is one goal away from tying the single-season program record for goals scored at 21. Additionally, the Chicago native was placed on the First Team All-TSC, his third career appearance on the top conference unit.

Joining Van Der Luit on the First Team was senior center back James Paylor and senior midfielder Craig Barker. Paylor started 15 games at center back for the Fire this season, anchoring an SEU back line that turned in eight clean sheets on the year. Barker had a tremendous year up top for Southeastern, netting five goals and leading the Sun Conference in assists with 12.

On the Second Team All-TSC, SEU was represented by senior defender Joey Dotson and graduate midfielder Banabas Ganidekam. Dotson earns his second-straight second unit placement after starting 15 games at outside back for the Fire. Dotson was another key component of the SEU defense that recorded eight shutouts. Ganidekam netted four goals and registered six assists in his lone season with Southeastern.

The Fire also received two nods on the Honorable Mention All-Sun Conference list. Senior defender Ben-Avir Espinal earned the Honorable Mention selection for the second-straight season after starting 16 matches for the Fire in 2019. Junior transfer midfielder Skylar Funk also was Honorable Mention after finding the back of the net seven times this season and recording two assists.

Southeastern receives a bye to The Sun Conference Tournament Semifinals as the top-seeded team. The Fire will host the winner of SCAD and Thomas next Tuesday November 12 with match time to be determined.

First Team
D  Harry Molyneux, STU (Sr.)
D  James Paylor, SEU (Sr.)
D  Takahiro Awaji, Keiser (Jr.)
F  Jake Van Der Luit, SEU (Gr.)
F  Adrian Camacho Castro, Keiser (Fr.)
F  Ciro Damine, Keiser (So.)
M Craig Barker, SEU (Sr.)
M Hannu Tam, Keiser (So.)
M Tom Barry, SCAD (So.)
M Evan Finnegan, Keiser (Sr.)
G Angelo Neto, Warner (Sr.)
 
Second Team
D Farid Sar Sar, JWU (Fr.)
D Joey Dotson, SEU (Sr.)
D Jayden Corbridge, SCAD (Fr.)
F Gavin Rochford-Smith, Thomas (Sr.)
F Pablo Gil, St. Thomas (Sr.)
F Daniel Rodriguez, Warner (Sr.)
M Banabas Ganidekam, SEU (Gr.)
M Cavan Daley, Thomas (So.)
M Julian Hall, SEU (So.)
M Nicolas Gomez, JWU (So.)
G Mike Marx, STU (Jr.)
 
Honorable Mention
M Joaquin Domber, STU (Fr.)
M Widler Monestime, Warner (Sr.)
M Juan Manuel Collazo, STU (So.)
M Skylar Funk, SEU (Jr.)
D Romario Atkinson, STU (Sr.)
D Ben-Avir Espinal, SEU (Sr.)
F Ty Bennett, SCAD (Fr.)
M Jack Chambers, Thomas (Sr.)
D Myke Zamor, Thomas (Sr.)
F Caleb Acosta, FMU (Sr.)
G Alex Marciulonis, JWU (So.)
 
Player of the Year:  Jake Van Der Luit, SEU
Freshman of the Year:  Adrian Camacho Castro, Keiser
Coach of the Year:  Clay Roberts, Southeastern
Champion of Character:  Donovan Ingley, Warner