Orlando, Fla. - Five Lynn University men's soccer players were honored as All-Sunshine State Conference selections, the league office announced on Thursday. Paulo Vaz received a first team nod with Kyle Conrad and Alessandro Salvatore earning second team accolades and Scott Gordon and Gabe Taboada getting honorable mention recognition.
Vaz has proven to be one of the more electrifying scorers in the SSC in his first season with the Fighting Knights. Despite missing three games, the Santa Catarina, Brazil, product led the conference with 17 goals and 43 points while also finishing in the top-five for assists (nine). The sophomore forward logged four multi-goal games, including two hat tricks, while being named the SSC Offensive Player of the Week three times.
In the background for much of his first two seasons, Conrad emerged this year as one of the top scoring midfielders. He set career-highs for goals (14) and points (34) to finish second on the team and within the top-five of the SSC in both categories. He also notched four multi-goal games, including his first hat trick.
This marks the seventh consecutive year Lynn has had a goalkeeper on an All-SSC team and 10th time in 12 years overall. Salvatore led the league with a 0.80 goals-against average and .822 save percentage and was second with six shutouts. In addition, his 60 saves are fourth all-time for a single season at LU.
Gordon and Taboada have had solid season for the Knights. Prior to being injured, Gordon led a Knights defense which was allowing 0.70 goals per game and had posted six shutouts. He also had one goal and three assists. A second team honoree last season, Taboada has six goals and six assists for 18 points.
Lynn's five selections tied Rollins for second most behind Tampa's seven accolades. The Tars' midfielder J.D. Gruenewald earned Player and Offensive Player of the Year honors with goalkeeper Ryan Thompson of Tampa garnering Defensive Player of the Year recognition, goalie Johnny Rodrigues of Barry picked for Freshman of the Year and Dr. Keith Buckley of Rollins being named the Coach of the Year.
Nova Southeastern defeated LU in penalty kicks in the first round of the SSC Tournament. The Knights are 14-3-1 overall and are looking to advance to their fifth consecutive NCAA tournament and 11th overall.
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