August 21, 2017

2017 Preseason TDS Best XI 

DALLAS (SMU) – Preseason MAC Hermann Trophy candidate Mauro Cichero was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Best XI Second Team, the organization announced today.

Cichero was also named to the preseason All-American Athletic Conference team and was the only player from The American listed on any of the three preseason teams from Top Drawer.   

The Norman, Oklahoma native earned second team all-conference honors last season after playing in 15 games for the Mustangs, scoring three goals on 44 shots with one assist.

As a sophomore, Cichero helped lead the Mustangs to a 15-3-4 record, a conference regular season title and to the third round of the NCAA Tournament in 2015. The senior forward was named the AAC Offensive Player of the Year and a unanimous First-Team All-Conference selection. Cichero finished his second season on the Hilltop ranked first on the team in goals (10), points (29) and shots (71), and second in assists (9).

In three seasons on the Hilltop, Cichero has started 52 matches and has tallied 15 goals, including six game winners, and 14 assists.

SMU opens the season Friday against UC Davis at 7 p.m. at Westcott Field.

Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Mustangs by following the SMU Men's Soccer Team on Twitter at @SMUSoccerM, on Facebook at Facebook.com/SMUSoccerM, and on Instagram at Instagram.com/SMU_MSOC. Follow SMU Athletics on Twitter at @SMUMustangs or Instagram at SMU.Mustangs.

2017 Preseason Top Drawer Soccer Best XI Teams

First Team
GK: Jefferson Caldwell (Virginia)
D: Kevin Politz (Wake Forest), Tomas Hilliard-Arce (Stanford), Grant Lillard (Indiana), Tim Kubel (Louisville)
M: Brad Dunwell (Wake Forest), Cameron Lindley (North Carolina), Amar Sejdic (Maryland)
F: Gordon Wild (Maryland), Albert Ruiz (Florida Gulf Coast), Jon Gallagher (Notre Dame)

Second Team
GK: Ben Lundgaard (Virginia Tech)
D: Wyatt Omsberg (Dartmouth), Cory Brown (Xavier), Aaron Herrera (New Mexico)
M: Jean-Christophe Koffi (Virginia), Brian White (Duke), Pablo Pelaez (San Diego State), Mauro Cichero (SMU)
F: Mohammed Thiaw (Louisville), Foster Langsdorf (Stanford), Marcelo Acuna (Virginia Tech)

Third Team
GK: James Marcinkowski (Georgetown)
D: Grant Stoneman (Loyola-Chicago), Sergi Nus (Virginia), Patrick Bunk-Andersen (Clemson)
M: Drew Skundrich (Stanford), Mo Adams (Syracuse), Paul Hoffmeister (Utah Valley)
F: Edward Opoku (Virginia), Afonso Pinheiro (Albany), Daniel Musovski (UNLV), Sam Gainford (Akron)

Freshman Team
GK: William Pulisic (Duke)
D: Brandon Terwege (UCLA), Logan Panchot (Stanford), John Nelson (North Carolina)
M: Blake Bodily (Washington), Brandon Servania (Wake Forest), David Loera (NC State), Caua Soares (Portland)
F: Kizza Edward (Pittsburgh), Rodney Michael (UC Santa Barbara), Umar Farouk Osman (Michigan)

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