Jeff Linville | The News
Surry Central’s Juan Lopez, seen passing the ball in a home match, has been named the Northwest Conference player of the year.
Surry Central’s Juan Lopez was named soccer player of the year for the Northwest Conference, Commissioner Jim Ingram announced this week.
The Northwest Conference coach of the year award came down to a tie between East Surry’s Bill Hart and Andrew O’Neal, West Stokes.
The Northwest All-Conference Team consists of 20 field players and two keepers. Of those 22 boys, 12 of them came from the four local schools.
Surry Central had four of those 12. East Surry and Mount Airy had three players each, and North Surry had two.
Conference champion West Stokes led the way with six boys: five field players and a keeper. Bishop McGuinness and South Stokes had two players each.
North Stokes didn’t field a team this season, and Winston-Salem Prep didn’t play a regular conference season.
Surry Central went 12-2 in the Northwest, losing only its two matches with West Stokes. The Eagles were 17-3-2 overall.
Lopez gave the Eagles some versatility. He could be up front attacking with scoring leader Jose Avalos or he could drop back to the midfield and help ensure Central won the time of possession.
Joining him on the all-conference team were Avalos, Adrian Gonzalez and Victor Rocha.
For the Bears, the three to make it were senior keeper Alex Mayo and junior co-captains Mitchell Brown and Carlos Carillo.
“I was really pleased with how they did all year,” said Bears Coach Will Hurley. “It was never about them, it was always about the team.”
Those three never gave up no matter the score, Hurley said. Mitchell never stopped attacking, no matter how many people were marking him. Carlos always made his presence felt on defense.
This is quite an honor for Alex because there are a lot of good goalies in the conference, the coach said. It has been a while since Mount Airy has had a keeper make the list.
For North Surry, the two who made the list were Cris Martinez and Caleb Ramey. Conspicuously missing are scoring threats Mitchell Midkiff and Hector Zubieta, who frequently mentioned by opposing coaches in interviews.
All-Conference Team
Bishop McGuinness: Kyle Justice, Luke Justice
East Surry: Ethan Atkins, Souli Boutis, Austin Haymore
Mount Airy: Mitchell Brown and Carlos Carillo, Alex Mayo [goalie]
North Surry: Cris Martinez, Caleb Ramey
South Stokes: Will Kiser, Hunter Rothrock
Surry Central: Jose Avalos, Adrian Gonzalez, Juan Lopez, Victor Rocha
West Stokes: Matt Hopper, Thomas Hawkins, Zane McGhee, Will Moore, Cody Smith [goalie], Austin Snow
Post a Comment
