DeSousa, Stanese Earn South Region Honors
FORT MYERS, Fla. – FGCU men’s soccer freshmen Felipe DeSousa (Vila Velha, Brazil/Wharton HS-FL) and Daniel Stanese (Pitt Meadows, British Columbia/Pitt Meadows Secondary) continue to pile up the postseason honors, as the duo was named to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) All-South Region second team.
In a region that consists of programs from the ACC, Conference USA, Atlantic Sun and Southern Conference (SoCon), DeSousa and Stanese were two of the three freshmen on the All-South Region second team, while no freshmen were named to the first team and two made the third team. The three other freshmen to earn All-South Region honors came from Duke and North Carolina.
DeSousa and Stanese are part of a talented 12-member class of FGCU freshmen that helped FGCU finish with an 11-5-3 overall record, its third straight A-Sun regular season crown and second consecutive A-Sun postseason championship en route to the NCAA Tournament. The Eagles put a league-record four rookies on the A-Sun All-Freshmen team, while seven different freshmen started this season.
DeSousa was FGCU’s biggest offensive threat in his first season on the pitch, equaling a program single-season record with seven goals while leading the team with 15 points. Highlighting DeSousa’s seven goals over 15 games played, which ranked third in the A-Sun, were a league-leading and program record five game-winners. The Vila Velha, Brazil native became just the second player in program history to score a goal in three straight games, which all happened to be game-winners against A-Sun foes USC Upstate, North Florida and at Jacksonville. After his two-goal performance at JU, DeSousa was named the A-Sun Player of the Week.
Following the regular season, DeSousa was named the A-Sun Freshman of the Year, while also finding a spot on the league’s All-Conference first team and All-Freshmen team. With his overtime game-winner against Lipscomb in the A-Sun semifinals, he was named to the A-Sun All-Tournament team. DeSousa was also named to the College Soccer News All-Freshmen third team following the season.
Stanese’s accolade comes less than two weeks after participating in the Under-20 Canadian National team camp in Sunrise, Fla. Also an A-Sun All-Freshmen team choice, Stanese started all and played every minute of the 18 games he particpated. The towering 6-foot-5 center back helped guide the youthful FGCU defense to eight shutouts in its last nine games, allowing just one goal in the final 592 minutes. For the season, the Eagles led the A-Sun in shutouts with nine and ranked 14th in the nation in shutout percentage (.47).
NSCAA ALL-SOUTH REGION FIRST TEAM
GK – James Belshaw, Duke, Sr.
D – Sebastian Ibeagha, Duke, Jr.
D – Boyd Okwuonu, UNC, So.
D – Walker Zimmerman, Furman, So.
MF – Coleton Henning, Furman, Sr.
MF – Alex Hutchins, Wofford, Sr.
MF – Miguele Lopez, UNC, So.
MF – Jared Watts, Wake Forest, Jr.
F – Deshorn Brown, UCF, Jr.
F – David Geno, ETSU, Jr.
F – Alex Martinez, NC State, Jr.
F – Chris Thomas, Elon, Sr.
NSCAA ALL-SOUTH REGION SECOND TEAM
GK – Scott Goodwin, UNC, Sr.
D – Jalen Robinson, Wake Forest, So.
D – Josh Shutter, Mercer, Sr.
D – Daniel Stanese, FGCU, Fr.
MF – Sean de Silva, College of Charleston, Sr.
MF – Itode Fubara, ETSU, Jr.
MF – Gabe Latigue, Elon, Sr.
MF – MartÀn Ontiveros, Furman, Jr.
F – Andy Craven, UNC, Jr.
F – Felipe DeSousa, FGCU, Fr.
F – Daniel Garcia, UNC, Fr.
F – Sean Okoli, Wake Forest, So.
NSCAA ALL-SOUTH REGION THIRD TEAM
GK – Greg Ranjitsingh, Mercer, So.
D – Daan Brinkman, College of Charleston, So.
D – Jonathan Campbell, UNC, Fr.
D – Zach Mathers, Duke, Fr.
D – Ashani Samuels, Mercer, So.
MF – Carl-Oscar Anderson, Mercer, So.
MF – Luciano Delbono, Wake Forest, Sr.
MF – Daniel Lovitz, Elon, Jr.
MF – Alesi Osorio, ETSU, Sr.
F – Quentin Albrecht, FIU, So.
F – Bradlee Baladez, South Carolina, Jr.
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