ROCK HILL, S.C. – Four Carson-Newman men's soccer players were named second-team All-South Atlantic Conference as seniors James Ward (Truro, England), Sindre Welo (Trondheim, Norway), Rurik Pereira (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and junior Marius Staalby (Trondheim, Norway) garnered preseason accolades, league officials announced Tuesday morning.
"Truthfully, we finished third in the league last year so you would like to think you had more of the better players in the league. To not have anyone on the first-team is obviously upsetting as a coach, but it's more upsetting to those guys, I think. For us, we just to come and work hard and for these boys, they just have to prove their self-worth on this team," coach Richard Moodie said.
Welo is making his third appearance on the preseason list as he was named preseason first-team in 2013 and 2014. Pereira was named to the second-team for the second consecutive season, while Staalby and Ward are debutants on the list.
Staalby has 22 career appearances in the Orange and Blue and has tallied five career goals and seven assists. As a sophomore in 2014, the Norwegian tallied four goals and six assists in 14 starts in his first full season; his freshman year in 2013 was cut short due to injury. He had a span of four games last year where he netted three goals and recorded three assists.
"Me and Marius know each other quite well; we have lived together and I knew him back home," Welo said of his chemistry with his fellow Norwegian. "He's a great guy. We hang out on and off the pitch. We have a good relationship on and off the pitch."
Welo has the most career goals on the team as the Norwegian has notched 19 goals during his first three seasons. He appeared in all 18 games last season and was in the Starting XI 15 times while contributing four goals and three assists, which were both career lows for the midfielder. He tied a career-high with two assists on the road at Tampa to start last season.
"Honestly, it doesn't mean too much. All that matters is basically winning something with the team and these preseason awards, I don't really know who votes and what the deal with them is, but I just want to go out there and win in my last season," Welo said.
During his first two campaigns, Welo contributed 15 goals and he added eight assists during his sophomore season.
Ward is the most-capped returner in the Eagles' defense after making 17 appearances during the 2014 season. He tallied a goal on the road against Newberry and at home against Anderson in a match that clinched a home game for the first round of the SAC Championships.
"I love playing for Wardy," Pereira said. "He's a big boy, big presence. He talks a lot and is really loud. I love playing with him. He's a really good player."
Pereira is transitioning from the defense into the midfield after garnering Honorable Mention All-South Atlantic Conference mentions in 2014. The Brazilian tallied four goals and two assists last season, including a world-class bicycle kick at Wingate in September. His four goals and 10 points were career-highs.
"It's good to be mentioned. I'm really happy I got mentioned, but actually, I'm just focused on doing well within the team and doing well this season. I'm just focusing on finishing well here, maybe going to the national tournament. I'm not really focused on first-team or second-team," Pereira said.
The 2015 preseason is the first time since 2012 where at least one Eagle was not named to the league's preseason first-team. This is only the second time in the past seven years that no Eagle has been a first-team selection.
Wingate led the way with six first-team All-Conference honorees. Carson-Newman's four were the most players for one team on the second-team.
First Team All-Conference
F – Charlie Machell, Wingate
F – Leonardo Da silva, Lincoln Memorial
F – Andre Carle, Anderson
F – Andreas Kvam, Tusculum
MF – Aksel Juul, Wingate
MF – Shaun Gadsby, Wingate
MF – David Fairgrieve, Wingate
MF – Marc-Kevin Schwenk, Queens
D – Alex Nelson, Wingate
D – James Scott, Wingate
D – Christan McArthur, Mars Hill
D – Guillermo Lazcano, Tusculum
GK – Jorge Alvarez, Tusculum
Second Team All-Conference
F – Marius Staalby, Carson-Newman
F – Jonathan Spicher, Tusculum
F – Connor Norton-Baker, Coker
F – Lucas Ferreira, Newberry
MF – Amine Merdjett, Mars Hill
MF – Rurik Pereira, Carson-Newman
MF – Leon Mueller Wiesen, Lenoir-Rhyne
MF – Sindre Welo, Carson-Newman
D – James Ward, Carson-Newman
D – Nathaniel Johnson, Lincoln Memorial
D – Ricardo Da silva, Tusculum
D – Phillip Hollenhorst, Catawba
GK – Kyndle Cobb, Coker
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