WAC Announces 2022 Men’s Soccer Award Winners
11/8/2022 3:01:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Doug Hill was tabbed coach of the year while London Aghedo won Defensive Player of the Year
ARLINGTON, Texas – The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) unveiled on Tuesday its 2022 men's soccer major award winners and all-conference teams as voted on by the league's head coaches. Grand Canyon's Shaun Joash was named WAC Offensive Player of the Year, while Air Force's London Aghedo brought home WAC Defensive Player of the Year. Utah Valley's Owen Knecht captured WAC Freshman of the Year and Air Force head coach Doug Hill was selected as the WAC Coach of the Year.
Joash, a senior forward, led GCU and all players in the WAC with 11 goals and 28 points over 15 matches (12 starts) for the Lopes in the regular season, including two match-winning goals. Joash logged eight goals and three assists for 19 points in only seven starts in conference play. Joash was the second student-athlete from GCU to capture WAC Offensive Player of the Year, joining Niki Jackson in 2016.
Aghedo, a senior defender, was a steady presence on the back line for regular-season WAC champion Air Force, helping guide the Falcons to the top seed in the conference tournament and 1.31 goals allowed per game for the season. Aghedo scored two goals and added an assist over 14 matches, going the distance in four team clean sheets for Air Force. Andrea Seazzu was the previous Air Force winner of WAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2018.
Knecht enjoyed a successful rookie campaign for Utah Valley, scoring four goals and adding an assist for nine points over 15 matches (11 starts). Three of Knecht's goals in the regular season came in conference play, including a brace against Houston Christian on Oct. 13. Knecht was the second straight player from Utah Valley to earn WAC Freshman of the Year, joining Diego Castillo in 2021.
Hill guided Air Force to an 8-5-3 overall record and a 7-1-1 conference slate in the 2022 regular season to lock up the WAC tournament top seed for the third time since 2017. Hill won conference coach of the year accolades for the second time from the WAC, adding the award to his 2017 crown.
2022 WAC Men's Soccer Awards
2022 WAC Offensive Player of the Year
Shaun Joash, Sr., F, Grand Canyon
2022 WAC Defensive Player of the Year
London Aghedo, Sr., D, Air Force
2022 WAC Freshman of the Year
Owen Knecht, F/MF, Utah Valley
2022 WAC Coach of the Year
Doug Hill, Air Force
2022 All-WAC First Team
Akili Kasim, Sr., GK, Seattle U
London Aghedo, Sr., D, Air Force
Thomas Beecham, So., D, California Baptist
Nico Torres, Sr., D, Utah Valley
Beau Leroux, So., MF, San José State
Finlay Wood, Grad, MF, San José State
Peter Kingston, Jr., MF, Seattle U
Alejandro Silva, So., MF, Utah Valley
Thaddaeus Dewing, Jr., F, Air Force
Bryan Iliohan, Sr., F, California Baptist
Shaun Joash, Sr., F, Grand Canyon
2022 All-WAC Second Team
David Sweeney, Sr., GK, San José State
David Cordes, So., D, California Baptist
Eduardo Miranda, Grad, D, San José State
Kasper Poulsgaard, Sr., D, San José State
Jibril Rodet, So., MF, Grand Canyon
Yusuf Cueceoglu, Sr., MF, UTRGV
Diego Castillo, So., MF, Utah Valley
Jacob Angeletti, Sr., F, Air Force
Elijah Bussey, Sr., F, Air Force
Luis Mueller, Jr., F, California Baptist
Bryant Farkarlun, Sr., F, Houston Christian
2022 WAC All-Freshman Team
Alex Aitken, GK, Houston Christian
Landon Carter, GK, Utah Valley
Erick Monge, D, Grand Canyon
Adolfo Pino, MF, California Baptist
Bright Nutornutsi, MF/F, Grand Canyon
D'Alessandro Herrera, MF, Houston Christian
Gaku Nishimura, MF, San José State
Yeider Zuluaga, MF, Seattle U
Mark Andros, MF, Utah Valley
Riccardo Scarafia, F, San José State
Taylor Rogers, F, Utah Tech
Owen Knecht, F/MF, Utah Valley
- WAC -
