MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Southern States Athletic Conference announced the 2022 Barnes & Noble College Men’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete Team and Scholar-Athlete of the Year Friday.
Dalton State’s Guilherme Franca was named 2022 Barnes & Noble College Men’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete of the Year after the senior posted a 3.7 GPA as a BS Health & Wellness major. On the field, he was named First-Team All-American, SSAC Co-Player of the Year and SSAC Defensive Player of the Year. The defender helped lead the Roadrunners to the SSAC Regular Season Championship and the final site of the NAIA National Championship for the first time in program history. He led a defense that surrendered only 10 goals in 20 games.
2022 Men’s Soccer Scholar-Athlete Team
Matteo Olivotto, Life University
Bart Kooistra, Life University
Guilherme Franca, Dalton State College
Justin Riescher, Dalton State College
Djordje Djukovic, William Carey University
Nicolo Lia, William Carey University
Antoine Marques, Faulkner University
Joshua Bynoe, University of Mobile
Christopher McKenna, University of Mobile
Alex Chmelo, Middle Georgia State University
Jacob Shield, Brewton-Parker College
Noteworthy
- To be eligible, student-athletes must be a sophomore or above in both academic and athletic standing, must be starters or important reserves, have at least a 3.3 cumulative GPA and have competed in 50% of competitions
- Graduate students are not eligible, and transfers must have completed one semester at the school
- Life’s Olivotto leads with a 4.0 GPA, while Middle Georgia’s Alex Chmelo has a 3.97 GPA and Mobile’s Christopher McKenna has a 3.9 GPA
- Olivotto, Kooistra, Franca and Riescher are all First-Team All-Conference selections, while Marques and Bynoe earned Second-Team All-Conference honors