FOREST, Va. --- Hampden-Sydney College earned two major individual honors and Washington and Lee University and Roanoke College tied with a league-high eight all-conference selections each to headline the 2019 All-ODAC Men's Soccer Awards.
Tigers' midfielder Spell Carr received ODAC Player of the Year laurels from the league's head coaches, while Generals' mentor Mike Singleton earned his second straight ODAC Coach of the Year award. University of Lynchburg forward Luke Mega secured ODAC Rookie of the Year honors, and H-SC defender Eli Strong earned ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete of the Year recognition from the ODAC's sports information directors.
Much like last season, the 2019 awards lists are populated by more new faces than returning honorees. Still, 15 standouts earned All-ODAC recognition for a second straight year, including six on the 2019 All-ODAC First Team. Washington and Lee defender Jack Rawlins is the lone first teamer from last season to earn a repeat selection to the top chart this year. Three players in H-SC's Carr, W&L midfielder Oliver Dolberg, and Roanoke back Tim Leuenberger move up from the All-ODAC Second Team. Randolph College defender Frankie DiOrio and Generals' goalkeeper Michael Nyc made the leap from last season's All-ODAC Third Team.
RELATED: 2018 All-ODAC Awards | All-Time All-Conference
Carr, a senior from Clinton, N.C., was the linchpin in Hampden-Sydney's midfield and spearheaded the Tigers' attack on the way to a seven-win improvement from last season to this year. It also featured a 14-game unbeaten streak that will carry into the 2020 campaign. Carr is tied for fourth in the ODAC with six assists and scored five goals to give him 16 points, which ranks 14th in the conference. He registered at least one point in 10 of his final 13 games of the season, including a stretch of six straight games with at least one point to kickoff the Tigers' unbeaten run. His season-high scoring output came against Randolph-Macon College with two goals in a 4-0 victory.
Singleton is in his sixth season at Washington and Lee and ninth as a collegiate soccer coach. He currently owns a 131-42-17 (.734) overall record including a 86-24-13 (.752) mark at W&L. This is the third time he's been honored as the ODAC Coach of the Year, pairing it with plaques he earned in 2015 and 2018. Singleton and his Generals captured the program's sixth overall and second straight ODAC men's soccer crown. W&L, ranked 11th by both the United Soccer Coaches and D3soccer.com, enters the NCAA Tournament with a 15-2-3 overall record that includes a 6-1-1 mark in league play. Washington and Lee has won five straight games and has gone unbeaten in each of its past six outings.
Mega, a first-year from Glen Allen, Va., put together a strong first season in the Hill City. Mega, an All-ODAC First Team choice, is fifth in the league in points (21) and tied for fourth in goals scored (9). He put together a five-game stretch at the end of the regular season thru the ODAC quarterfinals where he posted at least one point, which coincided with a five-game winning streak for the Hornets. Mega registered three or more points in a game four times, including a trio of two-goal games in wins over Oglethorpe, Shenandoah, and Virginia Wesleyan.
Strong, a senior from Windermere, Fla., pairs the ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor with a selection to the All-ODAC Second Team. In the classroom, Strong boasts a 3.96 grade point average as a biology/pre-med major with a minor in religion. A three-time ODAC All-Academic Team honoree, Strong has been accepted into George Washington Medical School for the fall of 2020. He has earned the Hinton Baxter Overcash Award as the top junior in pre-med last spring in addition to the President's Award for Overall Academic Excellence at Convocation earlier this fall. He is co-authoring "Cancer Genomics and Proteomics" with Dr. Kristian Hargadon, Ph.D. Strong will present his capstone at the American Association for Cancer Research in San Diego this spring.
On the field, Strong helped lead Hampden-Sydney to a 7-0-1 ODAC record and the top seed in the conference tournament. While he got forward to score three goals and dish out an assist, Strong's main contributions came in helping the Tigers' surrender just 20 goals in 19 games played. That number shrinks to eight goals in H-SC's eight conference games.
Listed below are the 2019 All-ODAC Men's Soccer Awards. For more information, visit any of the participating schools' websites, or go to the ODAC's home on the Internet at www.odaconline.com. Don't forget to become a fan of the ODAC on Facebook and follow @odacathletics on Twitter and Instagram.
ODAC Player of the Year: Spell Carr, Sr., M, Hampden-Sydney
ODAC Coach of the Year: Mike Singleton, Washington and Lee
ODAC Rookie of the Year: Luke Mega, Fy., F, Lynchburg
ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete: Eli Strong, Sr., D, Hampden-Sydney
ALL-ODAC FIRST TEAM | |||
Kenny Nzekwe | Fy. | F | Guilford |
Jacob Mann | Sr. | F | Hampden-Sydney |
Luke Mega | Fy. | F | Lynchburg |
Ricky Aguilar | Sr. | M | Guilford |
Spell Carr^ | Sr. | M | Hampden-Sydney |
Samuel Bass | Fy. | M | Washington and Lee |
Oliver Dolberg^ | Sr. | M | Washington and Lee |
Frankie DiOrio+ | Sr. | D | Randolph |
Tim Leuenberger^ | So. | D | Roanoke |
Seth Chapman | So. | D | Washington and Lee |
Jack Rawlins* | So. | D | Washington and Lee |
Michael Nyc+ | So. | GK | Washington and Lee |
ALL-ODAC SECOND TEAM | |||
Thomas White* | Sr. | F | Bridgewater |
Abibi Osman* | Jr. | F | Lynchburg |
Penny Senior | So. | F | Randolph-Macon |
Scott Signorelli | So. | F | Virginia Wesleyan |
Harry Pinkerton | Jr. | F | Washington and Lee |
Jack Ashby* | Sr. | M | Lynchburg |
Ben Mackey* | Jr. | M | Lynchburg |
Dylan Berk | Fy. | M | Roanoke |
Eli Strong | Sr. | D | Hampden-Sydney |
Joey Daly^ | So. | D | Lynchburg |
Bhayle Kearns^ | Jr. | D | Lynchburg |
Zach Behe | So. | GK | Roanoke |
ALL-ODAC THIRD TEAM | |||
Evan Blow | Jr. | F | Randolph |
Gabe Krueger | Sr. | F | Randolph |
Liam Camilleri+ | So. | F | Roanoke |
Isaac Wolf | So. | F | Roanoke |
Leo Alcantara^ | Sr. | M | Bridgewater |
Anthony Astruc^ | Sr. | M | Randolph-Macon |
Alec Taitague | So. | M | Roanoke |
Jack Parham | Jr. | M | Washington and Lee |
Joe Carman | Jr. | D | Roanoke |
Chris Jerrild | So. | D | Roanoke |
Erik Recke | Jr. | D | Washington and Lee |
Ian Connor | Sr. | GK | Hampden-Sydney |
* 2018 All-ODAC First Team ^ 2018 All-ODAC Second Team + 2018 All-ODAC Third Team |