MACON, Ga. – Led by a league-high four selections to the Atlantic Sun All-Conference First Team, the FGCU men’s soccer team had eight players named to the A-Sun’s all-conference teams Tuesday, as voted on by the league’s seven head coaches.

Earning All-Conference First Team selections are juniors Nathan Ingham, Aaron Guillen, Rodrigo Saravia and Felipe DeSousa. Landing on the All-Conference Second Team is sophomore Isaiah Madrid and senior Henry Penagos. Rounding out the FGCU honorees are Miguel Jaime and Albert Ruiz who were both tabbed to the A-Sun All-Freshman Team.

The eight all-conference players are the most FGCU has ever had, dating back to the program’s start in 2007. Additionally, the four First Team selections are tied for the most in a single season (2010). Jaime and Ruiz continue an impressive run of talent head coach Bob Butehorn has recruited and developed as FGCU has now had at least two All-Freshman Team selections in each of the program’s eight years of existence.

“It’s a great honor and recognition for all of the guys and they’re all extremely well-deserved,” said Butehorn. “But while the awards are certainly nice to have, we’ve talked all season about trophies, and our focus is now on the A-Sun Tournament this weekend.”

Ingham (Keswick, Ontario/Keswick HS) lands on an all-conference team for the first time in his career as he was named the A-Sun Tournament MVP as a freshman in 2011. He has been the final line for an FGCU defense which is not only the best in the A-Sun but also one of the best in nation. The goalkeeper leads the A-Sun in goals against average (0.77), save percentage (.811), shutouts (seven), games started (17) and minutes played (1,644:26). Additionally, he finished second in the A-Sun in saves with 60 and in conference games led the league with 21 saves. Currently, Ingham’s goals against average is good for the 5th-best single season by a goalie in A-Sun history, which for men’s soccer dates back to 1979.

Despite all that, the redshirt junior did not receive the league’s Goalkeeper of the Year award which instead went to North Florida’s Kyla Nasta, who played in just eight games all year, had a goals against average of 1.40 and a save percentage of .645 (eighth in the seven-team league). Ingham led FGCU to an unprecedented fifth-straight A-Sun regular-season championship while UNF finished fourth in the league, and Ingham’s goals against average ranks 28th in the nation while Nasta’s is 135th.

Guillen (El Paso, Texas/Coronado HS) is now a two-time All-Conference First Team member as the Eagles’ central defender was named to the team last year after earning All-Freshman Team recognition in 2012. The stable defender started all 16 games that he appeared in this year, logging 1,544 minutes – nearly every minute of every game. Guillen has helped support Ingham all season as FGCU’s team goals against average ranks 24th nationally while its 0.41 shutout percentage is 41st in the country. Additionally, the 14 goals FGCU has allowed are easily the fewest in the A-Sun – seven less than any other team in the league.

Also helping anchor the central pitch is midfielder Saravia (Guatemala City, Guatemala/College Internacional Montessori), who was named to the All-Conference First Team for the first time in his career after being named to the All-Conference Second Team last year and All-Freshman Team in 2012. Saravia controls the middle of the field for the Green and Blue, having logged 1,366 minutes and starting 15 of the 16 games he’s appeared in. Only once in program history has FGCU allowed fewer than 20 goals in a season (11 in 2010), but thanks in part to Saravia the Eagles appear on track to fall well below that threshold in 2014.

Rounding out the FGCU All-Conference First Team selections is DeSousa (Tampa, Fla./Wharton HS), who is now just the second player in program history to be named to the All-Conference First Team three times. The junior is tied for the team lead in goals with four despite playing in only 11 games during an injury-filled campaign. DeSousa’s 0.73 points per game average is tied for 10th among all conference players. He joins 2011 graduate Christian Raudales as FGCU’s only three-time First Team selections, and DeSousa could become just the eighth player in the history of the A-Sun to be named to the First Team all four years next season.

Madrid (Albuquerque, N.M./Eldorado HS/Westminster), the 2013 A-Sun Freshman of the Year, lands on the 2014 A-Sun All-Conference Second Team after finishing tied for the team lead in points with eight. The midfielder started the season slow, but after issuing an assist at FIU on Sept. 24, Madrid tallied all eight of his points in a six-game stretch. He has played in 14 games on the season, making nine starts and ranks fourth among all A-Sun players in shots per game with 2.6.

Capping a brilliant career, Penagos (Margate, Fla./American Heritage School of Boca/Delray) earns an A-Sun All-Conference Second Team selection for the second time. The only FGCU senior of the eight recognized with postseason awards, Penagos finished tied with DeSousa and Madrid for the team lead in points with eight. Like Madrid, the forward started the season slow, but turned his campaign around in October as – after appearing in only three games prior to the start of the month – tallied all four of his goals in a seven-game stretch, including two game-winning strikes. Last year, Penagos was an A-Sun All-Conference First Team pick.

Jaime (Greenwood Village, Colo./Cherry Creek HS) finds his way onto the All-Freshman Team after starting 12 games and appearing in 15 during his first season with the Green and Blue. The midfielder logged 902 minutes of action during the regular season, and his lone assist came on a game-tying strike by DeSousa as part of a 3-1 FGCU win over Jacksonville to open A-Sun play.

Ruiz (Barcelona, Spain/UE Cornella/CE L’Hospitalet) started 14 games and appeared in all 17 for the Eagles, scoring one goal. The forward provided FGCU with a strong, powerful striker who averaged 1.1 shots per game over the 891 minutes he logged. His goal opened the scoring in FGCU’s 3-1 triumph at Northern Kentucky in mid October.

Saravia was also named to the A-Sun Academic All-Conference Team in addition to Steven Oliveri (Stuart, Fla./Jensen Beach HS) and David Robledo (Dallas, Texas/Hillcrest HS) on Monday.

One of the seven aforementioned shutouts came on Saturday night against USC Upstate as FGCU wrapped up the regular season with a 1-0 triumph over the Spartans. FGCU (6-6-5, 4-1-1 A-Sun) is the first program in the history of the A-Sun to claim at least a share of five straight regular-season titles as the Eagles split this year’s honor with Lipscomb. With the triumph over USC Upstate, FGCU secured the No. 2 seed in this week’s A-Sun Championship and a bye into the semifinal round on Friday, Nov. 14, where the Green and Blue will meet the winner of No. 3 Stetson vs. No. 6 Northern Kentucky in a game which will take place Wednesday, Nov. 12.

Lipscomb will host the A-Sun Championship by virtue of a 2-1 victory over FGCU earlier in the year as the Bisons and Eagles both wrapped up the campaign with 13 points. Lipscomb, which received the other bye as the No. 1 seed, will await the winner of No. 4 North Florida and No. 5 USC Upstate as that quarterfinal match will also take place in Nashville on Lipscomb’s campus Wednesday. The A-Sun Championship final will be played Sunday, Nov. 16.

Since its run of regular-season crowns began in 2010, FGCU has an incredible overall record of 32-4-3 in all A-Sun regular-season games in that time. All four of those conference losses have come on the road, and out of a possible 117 points that could have been earned in that time, the Eagles have claimed an impressive 99 of them.

The victory over USC Upstate Saturday extended the nation’s longest home conference regular-season unbeaten streak to 26 straight as FGCU is an incredible 23-0-3 against A-Sun opponents at the FGCU Soccer Complex in the regular season since 2008. Included in that run is a 19-game winning streak as FGCU’s last home regular-season A-Sun loss came to Jacksonville, 2-0, on Oct. 19, 2008 – an incredible stretch of 2,212 days.

Player of the Year: Marvin Schmiege, USC Upstate

Defensive Player of the Year: Luke Gearin, Lipscomb

Goalkeeper of the Year: Kyle Nasta, North Florida

Freshman of the Year: Ivan Alvarado, Lipscomb

Coach of the Year: Ernie Yarborough, Stetson

All-Atlantic Sun First Team

Pos     Name                     School         

GK       Nathan Ingham        FGCU

GK      Kyle Nasta               North Florida

D         Aaron Guillen            FGCU

*D      Luke Gearin             Lipscomb      

D        Diogo Quirino           North Florida

D        JJ Bostic                  Stetson

MF       Rodrigo Saravia       FGCU 

MF      Ivan Alvarado          Lipscomb      

*MF    Marvin Schmiege      USC Upstate

F          Felipe DeSousa        FGCU

F        Matt Kerridge           Lipscomb      

F        Helge Pietschmann    North Florida

F        Eli Beates                Stetson

- A tie in voting led to 13-man first team

All-Atlantic Sun Second Team

Pos     Name                     School         

GK      Nate Davis              Lipscomb      

D        Griffin Kelly             Jacksonville

D        Jay Bolt                  North Florida

D        Ian O’Reilly              Northern Kentucky

MF       Isaiah Madrid           FGCU

MF      Alex Morrell             North Florida

MF      Cian McDonald          Northern Kentucky

MF      Lucas Diniz              Stetson        

F          Henry Penagos        FGCU

F        Ejiroghene Mrabure   Jacksonville

F        Reece Holcombe       Lipscomb      

F        Jared Huber             Stetson

- A tie in voting led to 12-man second team

All-Atlantic Sun Freshman Team

Pos     Name                     School

*MF    Ivan Alvarado          Lipscomb      

*MF    Jared Huber             Stetson

MF       Miguel Jaime FGCU

F          Albert Ruiz                FGCU

MF      Rijad Kobiljar           Jacksonville

F        Ejiroghene Mrabure   Jacksonville

GK      Nate Davis              Lipscomb                

MF      Heiko Allmendinger    USC Upstate

D        Lukas Sommer         USC Upstate  

D        David Caulfield         Stetson

F        Marco Hjorth            Stetson

D        Jeppe Moe               Stetson

- A tie in voting led to a 12-man Freshman Team

* - Denotes a unanimous vote

FOLLOW ALONG
For up-to-the minute information and a behind-the-scenes look at the FGCU men’s soccer program, follow on Twitter @FGCU_MSoccer and Instagram @FGCU_MSoccer.

COACH BUTEHORN
FGCU is led by Bob Butehorn, who has coached 41 A-Sun All-Conference selections since FGCU started its program in 2007. In just three years of postseason eligibility, Butehorn has guided FGCU to the NCAA Tournament twice – in 2011 and 2012 – and has won an unprecedented five-straight A-Sun regular-season championships. His teams have been ranked nationally on several occasions by multiple media outlets, and in 2013 he won his 100th career game.

SUPPORT THE CAUSE
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics’ charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.