Kentucky men's soccer dominates Sun Belt Conference postseason awards

The Sun Belt Conference might as well name this year’s men’s soccer postseason awards after the Kentucky Wildcats.

On Friday afternoon, the 2022 Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Awards and All-Conference Teams were announced by the league as voted on by the conference’s nine head coaches. Kentucky absolutely dominated the list of accolades as Luis Grassow (Sr.) won Defensive Player of the Year, Casper Mols (Fr.) won Goalkeeper of the Year, and Johan Cedergren won Coach of the Year.

Kentucky also produced five First Team All-Conference members and five Second Team All-Conference members. UK’s 10 All-Conference players were the most of any program as Marshall finished with six, Coastal Carolina with two, West Virginia with two, Georgia State with one, and James Madison with one for a total of 22.

Sun Belt Conference Announces Postseason Awards 🏆🥳

🔗 https://t.co/DrctP25ljj#WeAreUK | #GBED

— Kentucky Men’s Soccer (@UKMensSoccer) November 4, 2022

Despite being projected in the preseason to finish third in the final standings, Kentucky went undefeated on the season with an 11-0-5 overall record (5-0-3 in the Sun Belt). The ‘Cats also won the Sun Belt regular season championship and currently hold the No. 2 ranking in the country.

2022 Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Awards

Player of the Year: Milo Yosef, F, Marshall
Offensive Player of the Year: Milo Yosef, F, Marshall
Defensive Player of the Year: Luis Grassow, D, Kentucky
Goalkeeper of the Year: Casper Mols, GK, Kentucky
Freshman of the Year: Matthew Bell, F, Marshall
Newcomer of the Year: Adam Aoumaich, F, Marshall
Coach of the Year: Johan Cedergren, Kentucky

First Team All-Conference

F – Milo Yosef, Marshall
F – Eythor Bjorgolfsson, Kentucky
F – Alvaro Garcia-Pascual, Coastal Carolina
F – Matthew Bell, Marshall
MF – Vinicius Fernandes, Marshall
MF – Enzo Mauriz, Kentucky
MF – Simon Carlson, Georgia State
D – Luis Grassow, Kentucky
D – Gabriel Alves, Marshall
D – Robert Screen, Kentucky
GK – Casper Mols, Kentucky

Second Team All-Conference

F – Casper Grening, Kentucky
F – Nick Gutmann, Kentucky
F – Adam Aoumaich, Marshall
MF – Clay Holstad, Kentucky
MF – Alex Krakowiak, James Madison
MF – Luke McCormick, West Virginia
MF – Andrew Erickson, Kentucky
D – Lucca Rodrigues, Kentucky
D – Bjarne Thiesen, West Virginia
D – Peter Dearle, Coastal Carolina
GK – Oliver Semmle, Marshall

After closing out a perfect regular season, Kentucky will host the first round of the Sun Belt Conference tournament, which begins this weekend at the Wendell & Vickie Bell Soccer Complex. UK is the top overall seed and will take on eight-seed South Carolina this Sunday at 7:00 p.m. EST on ESPN+. If the ‘Cats are to win, they will play again on Wednesday, Nov. 9 against the winner of (4) West Virginia vs. (5) Coastal Carolina.

2022 Sun Belt Men’s Soccer Conference Tournament Standings

1. Kentucky (11-0-5; 5-0-3)
2. Marshall (10-2-3; 4-1-3)
3. Georgia State (11-3-3; 4-2-2)
4. West Virginia (6-6-4; 3-1-4)
5. Coastal Carolina (5-4-6; 2-1-5)
6. Old Dominion (6-7-2; 3-4-1)
7. James Madison (6-7-4; 2-3-3)
8. South Carolina (5-7-4; 1-4-3)
9. Georgia Southern (1-14-1; 0-8)