Well, there is no more ACC Tournament Banquet so I guess this information is released earlier now. Player of the Year White, a senior forward, currently has seven goals and three assists for 17 points on the season. The Lansdowne, Pa., native was named to the Soccer America Team of the Week on September 1st and was recently tabbed an Academic All-America (District III). White is the second Demon Deacon to be named ACC Player of the Year and the first since 1989. Freshman of the Year ACC Freshman of the Year honors went to North Carolina’s Jamie Watson who has five goals and five assists this season for 15 points. The freshman forward from Coppell, Texas, is the fifth Tar Heel to be tabbed ACC Freshman of the Year. Coach of the Year In his 11th year as the head coach of the Maryland Terrapins, Sasho Cirovski has posted a record of 147-77-9, including a 16-2 record this season. The Terps enter this week as the top seed and are currently ranked No. 2 in the nation by Soccer America and the NSCAA. This is Cirovski’s first ACC Coach of the Year honor. 2003 ALL-ACC MEN’S SOCCER TEAMS First Team Scott Buete............................... Maryland......................... Midfield Blake Camp............................... Duke................................. Midfield Kenny Cutler............................. Clemson........................... Midfield Will Hesmer.............................. Wake Forest................. Goalkeeper Sumed Ibrahim........................ Maryland......................... Midfield Aaron King................................ NC State............................ Forward Matt Oliver................................ Virginia........................... Defender Michael Parkhurst.................... Wake Forest.................... Defender Seth Stammler......................... Maryland........................ Defender Marcus Storey........................... North Carolina.................. Forward Jeremiah White........................ Wake Forest...................... Forward Second Team Vicente Bastidas...................... Wake Forest..................... Midfield Clarence Goodson..................... Maryland........................ Defender Mike Littlefield........................ Virginia............................. Forward Amir Lowery............................. Wake Forest..................... Midfield Domenic Mediate.................... Maryland.......................... Forward Tim Merritt............................... North Carolina................ Defender Justin Moose............................. Wake Forest..................... Midfield Noah Palmer............................. Maryland..................... Goalkeeper Scott Sealy................................ Wake Forest...................... Forward Abe Thompson......................... Maryland.......................... Forward Jamie Watson........................... North Carolina.................. Forward All-Freshmen Corey Ashe................................ North Carolina.................. Forward Ryan Burke............................... Virginia........................ Goalkeeper Adam Cristman........................ Virginia............................. Forward Steven Curfman....................... Wake Forest..................... Midfield Santiago Fusilier...................... NC State........................... Midfield Will Hall.................................... Virginia............................ Midfield Michael Harrington................. North Carolina................. Midfield Kyle Helton............................... Duke................................ Defender Chris Loftus.............................. Duke.................................. Forward Wells Thompson....................... Wake Forest..................... Midfield Jamie Watson........................... North Carolina.................. Forward ACC Player of the Year.............. Jeremiah White, Wake Forest ACC Freshman of the Year........... Jamie Watson, North Carolina ACC Coach of the Year Sasho Cirovski, Maryland
Well, better than last year when they ommitted David Stokes and Ricky Lewis, but still some eyebrow raising choices. Abe Thompson? Shouldn't ya have to, ya know, play to be all ACC? The Duke kid from T&T - Nigi Adogwa - wasn't honored? Didn't he lead the league in scoring? How does he not make it and Mike Littlefield does? Was Kenny Cutler really Clemson's top player? I would have picked NC State's GK, Jorge Gonzalez, over Noah Palmer. Yeah, Palmer has the lofty GAA but that's cause of the guys in front of him. Gonzalez had a better save percentage and saw a lot more shots. Also, teammate Federico Peria was second in the league in helpers despite missing a few games but gets no nod. Odd. Nice to see the ACC add an All Rookie team. 'bout damn time. Dom Mediate has an average year and makes it while Jason Garey leads the conference champs in scoring and doesn't make it? Was the voting done based on last year's NCAA tourney? Nice to see Clarence Goodson get some love but is Tim Merritt that good? I would have likely picked Chase Hilgenbrink instead, but I guess the coaches disagree with me. Was Jerry White even Wake's best player, let alone the ACCs? I have no qualms with him being All ACC but Player of the Year? My vote would have gone to Scott Buete. Can't quibble with Sasho Cirovski getting COY but given all the talent he had back, he did what he was supposed to do. Hard as this is to say, I think the best coaching job in the conference, in terms of improvement and maximizing talent, was done by, gulp! - George Tarantini. (BTW, was this really the first time "Sash" won the award?) Jamie Watson deserves his award. He had a great summer with the 17s culminating with a strong showing in Finland and just hit the ground running and had a strong freshmen year. What are the odds he's back next year? Unlike a lot of the kids from the team that went to Finland, he's 18 in January, meaning he can sign in Europe during the winter transfer window and he played well enough at the world championships that I wouldn't be surprised if he had an offer or to.
Looks to me like a case of seniority and reputation trumping actual performance. I don't have as many first team qualms, since from what I saw this year, most of those guys actually did perform well and earned their spot. Cutler was the only real surprise there for me. Second team was puzzling to say the least. Agree with Sandon that Gonzalez should have gotten the GK spot there over Palmer. He played really well in their match at Ludwig, and it's sounded like he kept it up most of the year. I can see where they justified putting Thompson on the team, since before his injury he was playing very well up front and producing. Still, I wouldn't have put him in. Mediate has been subpar all year, to the point where I wonder why Sasho keeps starting him. Done absolutely nothing since his hot streak in the tournament last year. Our two players with the biggest gripes are, as Sandon mentioned, Jason Garey and also Chris Lancos. Think the fact that they're both sophomores had anything to do with it? I sure do. Are these teams made based on votes of the coaches or media? I can understand why this happened if its the media voting, but the coaches should be ashamed if this was their work.
Selection Process I believe the coaches nominate the players then other coaches vote on them. Same with All Tournament Teams. And I believe the coaches have a say in who gets selected to teams of the week. Message; Several players in the ACC had breakout years. Only room for so many to get nominated. With each coach nominating who they want to give recognition to, this keeps the process sane! Not nominating Nigi is a bit puzzling!
The coaches vote and they can't vote for their own players. Somebody said they would have voted for Scott Buete. Each team nominates one player for the award. Maryland didn't nominate Buete. They nominated Sumed.
That's amazing they wouldn't nominate Buete. He is the heart and soul of that team. He's a baller. On the all freshman team: Are you kidding me? Cristman? This guy couldn't score if the goal was the size of Lake Erie. That's a joke. Wells Thompson? Please spare me...he's just a hack. Amir Lowery second team? Come on now. Fusilier of State deserves to be second team, as does Curfman.