Francisco, Brown Earn All-SSC Honors
MELBOURNE, Fla. - University of Tampa men's soccer seniors Keith Francisco and Theo Brown have garnered All-Sunshine State Conference honors for the efforts this season, as announced by the conference office on Thursday.
Midfielder Francisco collected First Team honors while defender Brown earned a spot on the Second Team. Both student-athletes earn All-SSC honors for the first time in their careers.
Francisco has posted five goals and an assist through 15 games this season for the Spartans. The senior's 11 points is tied for first on the team while the midfielder has netted four game-winning goals across his 2015 campaign. The Brooklyn, N.Y. native posted three consecutive games with a goal while all three went down as the deciding goal of the contest.
Brown anchors the Tampa defensive unit that has limited opponents to 21 goals across 15 games of play. The senior has helped hold opponents to just 1.39 goals per game and did his part to lead UT to a pair of shutouts. The Kingston, Jamaica native has an assist and a shot on goal for the Spartans.
Lynn University forward Chris Hellman repeated as Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year. Eckerd College picked up both the Defensive Player of the Year in Alex Gott and Freshman of the Year Westleigh Rush.
Saint Leo head coach Keith Fulk was named the SSC Coach of the Year as he led the Lions to their third SSC regular season championship.
Player of the Year: Chris Hellman, Lynn
Offensive Player of the Year: Chris Hellman, Lynn
Defensive Player of the Year: Alex Gott, Eckerd
Freshman of the Year: Westleigh Rush, Eckerd
Coach of the Year: Keith Fulk, Saint Leo
| 2015 Men's Soccer All-SSC First Team | ||||
| Pos. F F F M M M D D D G AL |
Name Chris Hellman*+ Maximilian Schulze-Geistovel*~ Adin Kavara* Tosan Popo*~ Keith Francisco Trey Collins Matt Campbell Liam Guest Michael Dodds Alex Gott Sam Sawyer^ |
School Lynn Saint Leo Florida Tech Rollins Tampa Florida Tech Saint Leo Eckerd Barry Eckerd Florida Tech |
Yr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Sr. Gr. Sr. Fr. Sr. So. Jr. |
Hometown Cologne, Germany Drensteinfurt, Germany Oslo, Norway Essex, England Brooklyn, N.Y. Melbourne Beach, Fla. Spring Hill, Fla. Derbyshire, England Gateshead, England Bedworth, England Bideford, England |
| 2015 Men's Soccer All-SSC Second Team | ||||
| Pos. F F F M M M D D D G AL |
Name Grant Blackhurst^+ Thomas Coombes Bafou Sanogo* Lukas Zlatarits Nick Jackson Richard Ainscough Theo Brown Luke Bromley Luca Puster James White Mitch Thorn^ |
School Rollins Barry Saint Leo Lynn Eckerd Eckerd Tampa Florida Southern Lynn Saint Leo Florida Tech |
Yr. Sr. Jr. Jr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Sr. Fr. Fr. Fr. Sr. |
Hometown Grantham, England Newcastle, England Paris, France Kroatisch Geresdorf, Austria Warrington, England Chorley, England Kingston, Jamaica Rugby, England Graz, Austria Portsmouth, England Brisbane, Australia |
* = 2014 First Team
^ = 2014 Second Team
~ = 2013 First Team
+ = 2013 Second Team
Click here for the complete All-SSC Men's Soccer release
Tampa heads into the SSC Men's Soccer Championship tournament as the No. 2 seed, behind a conference record of 5-3. On the season, the Spartans are 9-6 entering postseason play as they will face third-seeded Rollins College on Friday, Nov. 6 at 4:30 p.m. on the campus of top-seeded Saint Leo University. Live stats as well as a live video webcast will be made available through www.tampaspartans.com.
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