MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Southern States Athletic Conference announced the 2026 men's soccer year-end award winners Wednesday evening.
League coaches selected individual award winners and All-Conference and All-Freshman Teams, while Champions of Character award winners and Athletic Solutions All-Academic honorees were also recognized.
Coach of the Year: Gabriel De Queiroz, Faulkner
Player of the Year: Bernardo Juca, Faulkner
Offensive Player of the Year: Bernardo Juca, Faulkner
Defensive Player of the Year: Devin Koorn, Life
Newcomer of the Year: Fabian Arroyo, William Carey
Freshman of the Year: Bernardo Juca, Faulkner
Golden Gloves Award: Pawel Wolny, Life
Golden Boot Award: Bernardo Juca, Faulkner
Sportsmanship Award: Faulkner
Ethan Moore earned First-Team All-SSAC Honors as a forward, while Charlie Foss (forward) and Fabio Medici (defender) were both named to the All-Freshman Team.
Moore led Thomas (8-11, 4-7 SSAC) with 15 goals, including four game-winners. The senior was the lone Thomas player to appear and start in all 19 matches this season. Adding a pair of assists on the campaign, Moore makes it back-to-back Night Hawk seasons with a First-Team selection after current Assistant Coach Aaron Sindhar was honored last year.
"Ethan has been our leader from start to finish and to give the return of goals and contributions he has through this season has been incredible to see," said head coach Billy Jeffery. "He had struggled in previous years due to unfortunate injuries that led to many inconsistencies. However, this year he has changed his routines and been fully focused on making sure he is prepared as possible each and every day and that's a credit to him and I am so pleased he has been recognized this way in his senior year!
Foss scored once and tallied five assists, good for second-best in Jeffery's program this year. Medici logged the second-highest minute total for Thomas, anchoring a defense that totaled four shutouts on the season.
"Fabio and Charlie have had an impact this year as freshmen and have contributed to success on the field. We have work to continue to do but to play as much as they did is a credit to the work they put in this semester. And a special shout out to Jose [Bonilla Ortiz] who also was a freshman and continued to show the high-caliber player he is."
Away from the pitch, Angel Rivera was designated as the Night Hawks' Champion of Character this year.
"Angel is one of those guys within our team that genuinely has positive influence and is respected highly among his teammates," said Jeffery. "He leads by example on the field, collects equipment, works his socks off in everything he does and has been a positive influence on a lot of lads since his arrival last year. He had to step up this year and play more minutes than he has and has been one of our most consistent performers during the year."
In the classroom, two dozen Night Hawks were named to the Athletic Solutions All-Academic Team:
Tomas Arriaza Jr.
Fabian Cancio
Elia Casali
Ryan Donnelly
Damien Fortin
Franco Ghizzo
Luke Guerrier
Eli Heil
Isaac Jordaan
Kameron Kirksey
Andrew Lopez
Daniel Mauldin
Ethan Moore
Will Nye
Jesus Palma
Francisco Visiedo Pereira
Freddie Pickford
Logan Reed
Angel Rivera
Edward Sack
Joshua Turkstra
Cameron Ward
Gavyn Whitney
Jake Wright
"Having 24 players represented due to their academic efforts is a credit to the work all of the student athletes put in off the field," said Jeffery. "We work so hard to make sure we meet the high standards we set ourselves each and every semester."
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