SoCon Announces October Athletes of the Month

GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's soccer graduate student Ismail El Harchi and fifth-year student Marco Milanese were selected as SoCon Offensive and Defensive Players of the Month, respectively, announced by the league on Friday.

This is the final installment of monthly awards and first honorees for the Spartans this season.

Ismail El Harchi, UNCG, Grad., F, Santomera, Spain

• Notched six goals and tallied one assist with three game-winning goals for 13 points in October, scoring one or more goals in five of his seven appearances
• Scored two goals and recorded one assist against Furman on Oct. 1, getting the Spartans on the board in the 20th minute and netting the eventual game-winner in the 65^th minute, with his assist coming in the 79th minute of the contest
• Scored the game-winning tally against Elon on Oct. 5 and against VMI on Oct. 8
• Recorded his eighth goal of the season in UNCG's regular-season finale victory over Wofford on Oct. 29
• Named first-team All-Southern Conference on Nov. 3 after leading the Spartans with eight goals and three assists with three game-winning goals this season to tie for second on the team in points with 19

Marco Milanese, UNCG, 5th, D, Isernia, Italy

• Appeared in six matches during the month of October, helping UNCG tally three shutouts on its way to its second consecutive regular season title
• Recorded one assist for one point in the Spartans' 1-0 win over Mercer on Oct. 22, sending a pass to J.C. Ngando for the score in the 17th minute of the contest
• Registered his second assist of the campaign to go along with his one goal he scored last month to total four points on the year
• Key part of the Spartans' defense that led the Spartans to a 11-1-4 overall record and 4-0-1 conference record, their first undefeated SoCon record since 2004
• Named first-team All-Southern Conference on Nov. 3

UNCG has an 11-1-4 overall record this season and a 4-0-1 mark in SoCon play. The Spartans are currently No. 9 in the United Soccer Coaches national poll and No. 3 in the South Region. They also are No. 15 in RPI, as well as No. 10 in the College Soccer News and TopDrawerSoccer polls.
 
In the nation, UNCG is sixth in won-lost-tied percentage (0.812), eighth in goal differential (25), 10^th in shot accuracy (0.495), 11^th in team goals against average (0.688), 14^th in total goals (36), 16^th in corner kicks per game (6.69), 19^th in total points (105), 20^th in scoring offense (2.25), 22^nd in points per game (6.56), 26^th in assists per game (2.06), and 26^th in shots on goal per game (6.50).
 
The Spartans who received the No. 1 seed and a first round bye in the 2022 SoCon Men's Soccer Tournament, will face the winner of No. 5 Wofford vs. No. 4 Furman on Sunday, November 6 at 2:00 p.m. at UNCG Soccer Stadium.