American Athletic Conference Announces 2024 Men’s Soccer Honors

IRVING, Texas – The American Athletic Conference has announced the winners of its 2024 men’s soccer honors, as chosen by the league coaches.

The American regular season champion Memphis Tigers took home four of the six major awards. Jackson Kim was named American Defensive Player of the Year. Lleyton Imparato, along with South Florida’s Pedro Faife, was named American Midfielder of the Year, Filip Sabatti was named American Goalkeeper of the Year and the SMU coaching staffed earned the American Coaching Staff of the Year. Florida Atlantic’s Mamadou Diarra was named American Offensive Player of the Year, while UAB’s Mathis Richter and FIU’s David Houja were selected as American Freshmen of the Year.

Diarra becomes the first Owl to earn the American Offensive Player of the Year honor. He leads the league in goals (8) and points (24), adding eight assists on the year. On the season, he has had three game-winning goals, which leads the conference.

Kim becomes the first Tiger to win American Defensive Player of the Year. Kim played in all 90 minutes in 15 of the 16 matches played. In conference play, the Tigers allowed just five total goals.

Imparato earned the Tiger’s first Midfielder of the Year honor. In his first season with Memphis, he finished with five goals and five assists, leading the Tigers in both categories.

Faife becomes the first Bull player to be named Midfielder of the Year. Averaging 80 minutes per game, Faife finished the season with two goals, both resulting in game-winning goals (vs FIU, Sept. 20; at UAB, Nov. 1).

Sabatti also becomes the first Tiger to be named Goalkeeper of the Year. In conference play, he had a save percentage of .792 with 19 saves in seven matches. He also earned three clean sheets during conference action.

Richter is the first Blazer to win Freshman of the Year honors. He averaged 89 minutes on the backline for the Blazers and scored his first career goal against FIU (Oct. 5).

Houja becomes the first Panthers to earn Freshman of the Year honors, playing 90 minutes in all 14 matches for FIU this season. He added one goal in a win over Tulsa on September 29.

Memphis Tiger head coach Richard Mulrooney and his staff were tabbed American Coaching Staff of the Year, marking the first time Mulrooney has earned the honor. The Tigers finished the season with a 4-1-2 record in conference play, earning the top overall seed in the upcoming American Athletic Conference Championship, as well as an outright American Regular Season Conference Championship for the first time.

Memphis earned the Team Fair Play Award for a second straight season. for having the lowest number of fouls, yellow cards and red cards.

Memphis and Florida Atlantic led the league with three first team all-conference selections each, while Charlotte added two, and South Florida and Tulsa both had one. Two student-athletes were unanimously selected to the first team – Memphis’ Jackson Kim and Charlotte senior defender Ian Pilcher.

Temple led the way with three All-Freshman Team selections, while UAB had two. Eight members were unanimous selections – UAB’s Ole Jessen and Mathis Richter, Charlotte’s Jaedon Richardson, Florida Atlantic’s Kasper Heerfordt, FIU’s David Houja, Memphis’ Ryan Ruguaru, South Florida’s Marcelo Mondragon and Tulsa’s Alex Cunningham.

2024 American Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Awards

Offensive Player of the Year

Mamadou Diarra, Sr., F, Florida Atlantic

Defensive Player of the Year

Jackson Kim, Gr., D, Memphis

Midfielders of the Year

Lleyton Imparato, Jr., M, Memphis

Pedro Faife, So., M, South Florida

Goalkeeper of the Year

Filip Sabatti, Jr., GK, Memphis

Freshmen of the Year

Mathis Richter, D, UAB