Men's Soccer
Williams, Facusse & Mabika Named Men’s Soccer All-Americans

Williams, Facusse & Mabika Named Men’s Soccer All-Americans

by Jake Most

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Three Kentucky Men’s Soccer Wildcats – JJ Williams (First Team), Enrique Facusse (Second Team) and Aimé Mabika (Third Team) – were named All-Americans by the United Soccer Coaches for the 2018 season on Thursday night.
 
Kentucky has now been represented on the USC (formerly NSCAA) All-America teams four out of the last five years.

The UK trio became the sixth, seventh and eighth All-Americans in program history (Ilkka Jantti – 2001 second team, Jamal Shteiwi – 2004 third team, Barry Rice -2009 second team, Callum Irving – 2014 third team and 2015 first team, Napo Matsoso – 2016 second team).
 
The Wildcats completed their record-setting 2018 season last Friday. The Wildcats, who will graduate just one senior, won the Conference USA double, set the school record for wins, reached the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, went 5-1 against top-25 opponents and welcomed multiple 3,000-plus crowds to The Bell to name but a few accomplishments.
 
Williams was named to the First Team. The Conference USA Player of the Year and MAC Hermann Award semifinalist, established himself as perhaps the nation’s top attacking threat. He scored 18 goals – third most in the nation – nine game winners – second most in DI – and ranked third nationally in total points (44).

Williams scored huge goals on some of his biggest stages, scoring twice in 3-0 regular-season wins against NCAA Tournament No. 4-seed Louisville, No. 2 Indiana – a game in which he assisted the third goal. He also scored a brilliant 1-0 game winner in the C-USA Tournament final against USC No. 14 Charlotte just after halftime to go along with an NCAA Tournament second-round brace against USC No. 21 Portland.
 
Facusse was named to the second team. The UK goalkeeper was named All-Region for the second year in a row, as well as First Team All-Conference USA. His .49 goals against average ranked fourth nationally, and his .84 save percentage ranked 12th in Division I.
  
Mabika earned a spot on the third team. The sophomore defender played a central role in the nation’s No. 3 goals against average (.49) and shutout percentage (.64) defense.

This year’s NCAA Division I Men’s All-Americans will be recognized for their accomplishments at the All-America Ceremony & Reception on Jan. 12, 2019 at McCormick Place West in Chicago in conjunction with the 2019 United Soccer Coaches Convention.
 
UK’s three All-Americans plus Kalil ElMedkhar were named All-Southeast Region on Wednesday. All four of them were First Team All-C-USA selections.

UK’s coaches were named the Southeast Region Staff of the Year last week.

2018 NCAA Division I Men’s All-America Teams
First Team

Pos. Name Class School Hometown
K Trey Muse So. Indiana University Louisville, Ky.
D Tanner Beason Jr. Stanford University Winston-Salem, N.C.
D Alex Comsia Sr. University of North Carolina North Vancouver, B.C.
D Andrew Gutman* Sr. Indiana University Hinsdale, Ill.
D Callum Montgomery Sr. Charlotte Victoria, B.C
M Giuseppe Barone Jr. Michigan State University Grandville, Mich.
M Tucker Bone* Sr. United States Air Force Academy Granite Bay, Calif.
M Bruno Lapa Jr. Wake Forest University Curitiba, Brazil
F Omir Fernandez So. Wake Forest University Bronx, N.Y.
F Cal Jennings Jr. UCF Roswell, Ga.
F Andre Shinyashiki Sr. University of Denver Sao Paulo, Brazil
F JJ Williams Jr. University of Kentucky Montgomery, Ala.

Second Team

Pos. Name Class School Hometown
K Enrique Facusse So. University of Kentucky Tegucigalpa, Honduras
D Josh Bauer So. University of New Hampshire Bedford, N.H.
D Johnny Fenwick Sr. High Point University Newcastle upon Tyne, England
D Donovan Pines Jr. University of Maryland Clarksville, Md.
M Wouter Verstraaten Sr. University of the Pacific Heeze, Netherlands
M Brad Dunwell Sr. Wake Forest University Grand Rapids, Mich.
M Mauricio Pineda Jr. University of North Carolina Bolingbrook, Ill.
M Camden Riley Sr. University of the Pacific Dallas, Texas
F Benji Michel Jr. University of Portland Orlando, Fla.
F Griffin Dorsey So. Indiana University Evergreen, Colo.
F Jack Hallahan Jr. University of Michigan Redditch, England
F Daniele Proch Jr. Duke University Riva Del Garda, Italy

Third Team

Pos. Name Class School Hometown
K Remi Prieur Jr. Saint Mary’s College of California San Ramon, Calif.
D Dan Bent Sr. Wright State University Kent, England
D Erik Holt Sr. UCLA San Diego, Calif.
D Aimé Mabika So. University of Kentucky Lexington, Ky.
M Louis Perez So. UCF Villennes Sur Seine, France
M Joey Piatczyc Sr. West Virginia University Lee’s Summit, Mo.
M Barry Sharifi Jr. Loyola University Maryland Jericho, N.Y.
F Amir Bashti Sr. Stanford University Cupertino, Calif.
F Austin Dewing Sr. United States Air Force Academy Colorado Springs, Colo.
F David Egbo So. University  of Akron Enugu, Nigeria
F Jake Rudel Jr. Saint Mary’s College of California Fort Collins, Colo.
F Brian Saramago Jr. Loyola University Maryland New Hyde Park, N.Y.



For the best coverage of UK men’s soccer follow the team’s social media accounts on TwitterFacebook and Instagram in addition to on UKathletics.com.
 
 

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