August 15, 2012

Men’s Soccer Places Three On Preseason All-SoCon Team

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The defending Southern Conference regular season champion UNCG men's soccer team was predicted to finish third in the 2012 preseason SoCon Coaches' Poll, while the Spartans placed a league-high three members on the preseason All-SoCon Team in junior defender Aaron Reifschneider (Frisco, Texas/Wakeland), senior forward Hakan Ilhan (Stuttgart, Germany/University of Stuttgart) and fifth-year senior goalkeeper Peyton Ford (Jamestown, N.C./Southwest Guilford). The Spartans open play Thursday night as they host Guilford College in an exhibition game at the UNCG Soccer Stadium at 7 p.m.

"We are extremely pleased to place three on the preseason All-Southern Conference," assistant coach Scott Brittsan said. "These three fantastic individuals represent our program the right way both on and off the field. Peyton and Hakan as seniors, and Aaron as a junior captain, certainly have high expectations individually and for the team this year. We are excited to get things going with our exhibition Thursday night."
 
Reifschneider is earning preseason All-SoCon honors for the second straight year. He played and started the first 12 games of the season before missing the final eight due to an injury. He dished out two assists last season after picking up SoCon All-Freshman Team honors in 2010 with one goal and six assists.
 
Ilhan is also picking up preseason accolades for the second straight season. He led the Spartans and was second in the SoCon in scoring with 25 points on his way to First Team All-league accolades. He scored a team-high 10 goals, which ranked second in the SoCon, while handing out two assists. He enters the 2012 season with 56 career points, on the strength of 22 goals and 12 assists.
 
Ford has played in 54 games in his career with 53 career starts, ranking second all-time in UNCG history with 18 shutouts on his way to 25 career victories. He picked up Second Team All-SoCon honors last year after ranking second in the league with a 0.70 goals against average. He led the league in conference play with a miniscule 0.14 goals against average allowing only one tally against in 650 minutes of play while posting six shutouts in seven games.
 
The Spartans received 35 total points to finish one point out of second place College of Charleston (36) and 12 points behind predicted champion Furman who received 47 points. Elon (30), Appalachian State (26), Georgia Southern (24), Wofford (14) and Davidson (12) round on the coaches' poll.
 
2012 Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll
 1. Furman (5) - 47
2. College of Charleston (1) - 36
3. UNCG - 35
4. Elon (1) - 30
5. Appalachian State - 26
6. Georgia Southern (1) - 24
7. Wofford - 14
8. Davidson - 12

() denotes first-place votes

2012 Men's Soccer Preseason All-Conference Team
F       Chris Thomas, Elon
F       Coleton Henning, Furman
F       Martin Ontiveros, Furman
F       Hakan Ilhan, UNCG
MF    Sean de Silva, College of Charleston
MF    Gabe Latigue, Elon
MF    Hunter Norton, Georgia Southern
D       Lee Williams, Appalachian State
D       Walker Zimmerman, Furman
D       Aaron Reifschneider, UNCG
GK    Peyton Ford, UNCG

- UNCG -