11/7/2024 | Men’s Soccer
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Atlantic men’s soccer was well-represented in Thursday’s American Conference postseason awards announcement. Leading the way was senior Mamadou Diarra, who was named AAC Offensive Player of the Year.
Diarra, Noah Kvifte, and Aboubacar Traore were each named to the AAC First Team. Callum Frogson and Sebastian Zettl earned their way onto the Second Team while Kasper Heerfordt was included on the All-Freshman Team.
Entering Friday’s AAC Quarterfinal, Diarra is tied with Kvifte for the AAC lead in goals with eight, three of which were game-winners. He’s also third in the conference in assists. On August 29 against Stetson, he recorded the Owls’ first hat trick in 10 years, and he did it in one half. Diarra is the first Owl to earn Offensive Player of the Year since Bjorn Tortland won the ASUN award in 2004.
Kvifte capped off his regular season with two goals last Saturday against Charlotte. His 19 shots on goal are the most in the AAC. He has five goals in the last five games entering the postseason.
Traore is the AAC’s assists leader with 10, which also ties him for the FAU single-season program record. He has factored on 14 of the Owls’ 31 goals this season.
Zettl is second in the AAC behind Traore with nine assists. He was instrumental in Diarra’s August 29 hat trick, providing the helper on all three goals. He added one more in that match to set the program’s single-game record.
Frogson has been the Owls’ ironman all season, starting every game at center back and rarely coming off the field. He also scored his first goal as an Owl last Saturday against Charlotte.
Heerfordt has been another key cog in the Owls’ back line. The team’s lone freshman has started 13 games at right back.
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 Ricter, D, UAB
David Houja, D, FIU
Coaching Staff of the Year
Memphis*
Richard Mulrooney, Tony McManus, Kevin Tello, Remco de Jong
Team Fair Play Award
Memphis Tigers
First Team All-Conference
Ian Pilcher, Sr., D, Charlotte*
Riyon Tori, Sr., M, Charlotte
Lleyton Imparato, Jr., M, Memphis
Jackson Kim, Gr., D, Memphis*
Filip Sabatti, Jr., GK, Memphis
Mamadou Diarra, Sr., F, Florida Atlantic
Noah Kvifte, Sr., F, Florida Atlantic
Aboubacar Traore, Jr., M, Florida Atlantic
Bernardo Dos Santos Montiero, Sr., F, FIU
Pedro Faife, So., M, South Florida
Wes Bottenburg, Jr. D, Tulsa
*denotes unanimous selection
Second Team All-Conference
Tony Kim, So., F, UAB
Leo Stritter, Jr., GK, Charlotte
Lucho Galizzi, 5th, F, Memphis
Logan Longo, Gr., D, Memphis
Callum Frogson, Jr., D, Florida Atlantic
Sebastian Zettl, Jr., M, Florida Atlantic
Jalen Anderson, Gr., F, South Florida
Issah Hamidu, So., D, South Florida
Gunnar Studenhofft, Sr., F, South Florida
Kemali Green, Gr., D, Temple
Alvaro Torrijos, Gr., M, Tulsa
All-Freshman Team
Ole Jessen, D, UAB*
Mathis Richter, D, UAB*
Jaedon Richardson, F, Charlotte*
Kasper Heerfordt, D, Florida Atlantic*
David Houja, D, FIU*
Ryan Ruguaru, D, Memphis*
Marcelo Mondragon, D, South Florida*
Edgar Bazan, M, Temple
Nathan Brown, F, Temple
Charlie Votel, F, Temple
Alex Cunningham, D, Tulsa*
*denotes unanimous selection
For the full release from the AAC visit https://theamerican.org/sports/msoc.
Florida Atlantic men’s soccer finished the regular season 7-5-3 overall and will host FIU in the AAC Quarterfinals on Friday night at 7 p.m.
