ATLANTA, Ga. (November 1, 2023) – Oglethorpe forward Ben Alram and Rhodes standout Eli Pilcher were named players of the year to highlight the 2023 All-SAA men’s soccer teams. The duo joins Newcomer of the Year John Palomino of Centre as part of 57 student-athletes named all-conference. Oglethorpe’s Jon Akin was voted SAA Coach of the Year for the seventh time in his decorated career.
Offensive Player of the Year Ben Alram (Junior/Roujan, France) led the SAA with 29 points, putting up a conference-best 11 goals to go along with seven assists. In conference play, he tallied three goals and led the league with six assists. The junior had three multi-goal games, scoring a hat trick against Piedmont and grabbing two goals against both Birmingham-Southern and Millsaps. Alram led the Stormy Petrels to the SAA regular season title as the spark to the conference’s top-scoring offense that racked up 17 goals in seven conference games.
Defensive Player of the Year Eli Pilcher (Junior/Charlotte, N.C.) anchored a Rhodes defensive backline that surrendered just two goals in league play and eight all season. Pilcher guided the Lynx to shutouts in nine matches, including five clean sheets in conference play. The junior started every game and was second among Rhodes field players in playing time, recording 1272 minutes of action. Pilcher was first team All-SAA each of the last three seasons and marks the second-straight Rhodes SAA Defensive Player of the Year with Michell Fenton earning the award in 2022.
Newcomer of the Year John Palomino (First year/Troy, Mich.) made an immediate impact for the Colonels, leading the team with 14 points on five goals and four assists. Three times this season Palomino provided the game winning goal. His output ranked seventh in the SAA in points and put him sixth in goals scored. The newcomer had four multi-point games this season, including putting up two goals against LaGrange and posting a goal and assist against Millsaps.
Coach of the Year Jon Akin guided Oglethorpe its sixth SAA regular season title, going 6-1 in conference play and 12-2-2 overall. The Stormy Petrels have outscored opponents 40-8 this season, including 17-3 in SAA play. Akin developed a conference-best 12 All-SAA players this season, including four first teamers and the SAA Offensive Player of the Year.
Voting for All-SAA awards was conducted among the conference’s eight head coaches.
Offensive Player of the Year – Ben Alram, Oglethorpe
Defensive Player of the Year – Eli Pilcher, Rhodes
Newcomer of the Year – John Palomino, Centre
Coach of the Year – Jon Akin, Oglethorpe
First Team All-SAA
GK – James Leone, Hendrix
D – Daniel Amah, Oglethorpe
D – Eli Pilcher, Rhodes
D – Tyler Scott, Sewanee
M – Luke Grant, Rhodes
M – Sota Ippongi, Centre
M – Adrian Levy, Oglethorpe
F – Ben Alram, Oglethorpe
F – JR Cozine, Oglethorpe
F – Tyler Cozzie, Sewanee
At-Large – Jesus Tadeo, Rhodes
Second Team All-SAA
GK – Nate Slota, Rhodes
D – Luke Ferrari, Oglethorpe
D – Andy Guzman, Berry
D – Max Sosa-Haemmerli, Rhodes
M – Alessandro Junior, Birmingham-Southern
M – Jake Locklear, Oglethorpe
M – Tracy Moon, Berry
F – John Palomino, Centre
F – Cristian Median, Oglethorpe
F – Ben Novello, Rhodes
At-Large – Everett Hauser, Centre
Honorable Mention:
Berry – Dylan Bloch, Jose Palacios, TJ Tracy
Birmingham-Southern – Pirmin Blattmann, Cesar Hurtado, Trey Kirksey, Caleb Pruett, Vopicelli Vittorio
Centre – Jacob Camacho, Drew Davidson, Alec McAlister, Taylor Nelson, Finnegan Deem-Ranzetta
Hendrix – Holt Bliss, Will Kelton, Austin Pettigrew
Millsaps – Jacks Dowdy, Michael Hamauei, Nicolas Nieto
Oglethorpe – Dylan Bapst, Carolos Cavallaro, Javier Martinez, Nicolas Mejia, Nicolas Sciarra
Rhodes – Wes Adams, Rhys Hourmont, Brendan Kane, Jeffery Mason, Pierce Miller
Sewanee – Connor Dail, David Edge, Payne Gridley, Will Hawgood, Stokes McConnell, Christopher Rives